Dancing to New Orleans (2003)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Features:

• Music notes
  
• Art notes
  
• Weblinks
  
• Filmmaker biography
  

Released by: Docurama
Region: 1
Rating: NR
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Rent it, or buy it if you love good music

Even if you've never been there, when you think of New Orleans, you think of music. Dancing to New Orleans is a good start towards understanding why. Because of its unique location and varied cultural history, New Orleans has become kind of a musical gumbo, a term that means everybody talking at once. The music of southern Louisiana contains strains of the blues, Zydeco, Cajun and Creole music, rhythm & blues, ragtime, gospel, native music, and more.

Southern Louisiana provided rich cultural experiences as it combined such cultures and peoples as Spanish influences, French, Creole, Caribbean, and so forth, creating an environment rich in food and fun, but it was also a very hard and poor life that resulted for the most part. Music became one thing that connected the generations and allowed people to survive spiritually, not to mention being vital to America in how it helped to mold rock and music in general.

The film quality is quite good. There are some spliced in pieces of older film, such as musical performances from earlier decades, that have not been remastered and made to look new, but instead of looking bad, this just reminds viewers of how old the Louisiana musical tradition really is. The gorgeous landscapes will make anyone homesick for Louisiana, even if they've never actually lived there.

The film also takes a closer look at a score of popular Louisiana artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Big Jack Johnson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Clifton Chenier, John Campbell, and BeauSoleil. It's marvelous to see some of these living artists have the chance to talk about their work and what it has meant to them over the years. Fans of folk music will love the Buckwheat Zydeco, Neville Brothers, and so forth on the soundtrack, and new fans of such music are bound to be born as they are sucked in while watching this film.

The special features are solid. The music notes provide information on several common Louisiana instruments that might be somewhat new to viewers, such as washboards and accordions, as well as doling out info on "Louisiana Hayride," the CBS radio show that introduced Louisiana music to the country. This show allowed musical crossovers and was a stop in the early career of such luminaries as Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams. The art notes provide profiles of musicians, and the resources give viewers some links to info on the web.

In short, if you are at all interested in Louisiana, American music, or sociology and culture, then you need to treat yourself to a viewing of this DVD. It's much more engrossing than you might assume a documentary would be, perhaps because the Louisiana culture itself won't permit boredom or ennui to go unchallenged. So check it out and laissez le bon temps rouler.