Motown

[trevrand]

wondering if anyone got the chance to see Standing in the Shadows of Motown this past weekend. I went w/o knowing anything about the film - and what a pleasant surprise - I was very impressed. Not only does the film tell an untold musical history of interest to any music fan, but the performances are top notch!

[jazzypaul]

I want to, but the only place that it's playing is 20 miles from my house. A bit too far away for a night out at the movies, ya know? I might still make the drive. Anything would be better than Harry Potter, after all...

[JamesJazz]

It's a great film, publicizes the Funk Bros. at last. So many of the musicians are/were jazz guys (Jamerson was a respected jazz bassist as well as a Motown musician), Pistol Allen a great jazz drummer, Beans Bowles worked with Bill Doggett among others.

[Harold_Z]

I'll have to wait for the DVD or VHS. I understand it'll be out in April.

[Harold_Z]

OK. I scored the dvd and watched it last night at 2:00 AM after coming home from a gig. Put phones on and pumped them up. Dug it a lot. These guys weren't new to me...I'd been aware of them since the late 60's and James Jamerson was one of my primary influences on the Fender bass. Bob Babbitt sounded great too - a wonderful player in his own right.

Well...I guess this goes a long way to explaining why the R&B of this period appealed so much to me and to SOME jazz players and listeners. These were basically jazz guys putting a jazz approach on pop/R&B dates and paying heavy attention to creating a groove, but at the same time there was a lot of improvising going on and a lot of creativity. Later pop music and later R&B just didn't have this element to the degree these guys had it. These guys were the Detroit version of this manifestation...you had similar things happening in various regions throughout the country - although these guys WERE outstanding and pretty influential on the developments in other locales.....and , also, I think the jazz thing and the ability to PLAY jazz was more apparent here than, for one example, in Memphis with the Stax rhythm section.

In any event , if you have any kind of interest in this music and ,imho, PARTICULARLY if you are a bassist or rhythm section player intersted in groove and making a performance feel and sound good, check this out. It's well worth the time and the investment.