PRESS RELEASES 2007

U.S. Embassy, Red Bones present “The Blues …and then some!”

The U.S. Embassy and Red Bones Blues Café for the third year will collaborate to bring selected films from the critically acclaimed series “The Blues,” as a pre-cursor to its annual African American History Month observances. In addition, the documentary, “Roots of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story” produced by Arthur Gorson and Wayne Jobson and premiered at the Flashpoint Film Festival in Negril will be featured at the event.

The films will be shown every Thursday night from February 1 to February 22, at the Red Bones Blues Café, 21 Braemar Avenue, Kingston 10 starting 7:00 p.m.

On February 1, Director Martin Scorsese’s “Feel Like Going Home” pays homage to the Delta blues. Musician Corey Harris travels through Mississippi and on to West Africa, exploring the roots of the music. The film celebrates the early Delta bluesmen through original performances (including Willie King, Taj Mahal, Otha Turner, and Ali Farka Toure) and rare archival footage featuring Son House, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker.

“Roots of Reggae: The Ernest Ranglin Story” on February 8, parallels Ernest Ranglin’s career with the growth of ska and reggae music around the world. It features extensive reflections with Ernie Ranglin, and exclusive on screen commentary by Chris Blackwell, Jimmy Cliff, Rico Rodriquez, Perry Henzell, Damian Marley, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare among others. Musical Director Brian Jobson will introduce the film and will be available with Ernie Ranglin to rap with the audience after the show.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua “Lightning in a Bottle” on February 15 sees Scorsese return to the concert film as Executive Producer. It documents a gig from February 2003, held at New York's historic Radio City Music Hall, celebrating 100 years of blues music. The line up sounds like an A-Z of blues music with legends like BB King, Buddy Guy and Solomon Burke joined by fans such as Aerosmith and Macy Gray.

The final film “Piano Blues” by Oscar winning director and piano player Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by such legends as Pinetop Perkins and Jay McShann, as well as Dave Brubeck and Marcia Ball.

“The Blues… and then some!” will be followed by the U.S Embassy’s premier event for African American History Month - a free concert on the east lawns of Devon House on February 23 with renowned Chicago blues diva Zora Young, and as well as Jamaica’s own A.J. Brown, saxophonist Dean Fraser and the Maurice Gordon Group.