testmonday Centennial
You are here > Home > Recordings

Piano Blues

Piano Blues  - DVD cover

Other Album Covers & Images

Piano Blues  - DVD back coverDVD back cover

Label: Columbia Legacy
Year: 2002
Released on LP: No
Released on CD: No

Tracks

Mission Ranch Blues
Travelin’ Blues

Discussion with Clint Eastwood

Notes

Recorded On 21st September 2002, at the home of Clint Eastwood, Mission Ranch, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA.

Dave Brubeck piano
Jay McShann piano

Director and piano player, Clint Eastwood explores his life long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by living legends.


Wiki page

Piano Blues is a 2003 documentary film directed by Clint Eastwood as the seventh installment of the documentary film series "The Blues" produced by Martin Scorsese. The film features interviews and live performances of piano players Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Dr. John and Marcia Ball.

In the documentary Eastwood explores his lifelong passion for piano blues and jazz. He interviews artists as Ray Charles, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, Dave Brubeck, Jay McShann, Henry Gray and shows archival performances of Fats Domino, Otis Spann, Art Tatum, Albert Simmons, Pete Johnson, Jay McShann, Big Joe Turner, Nat King Cole, Martha Davis, Professor Longhair, Charles Brown and Duke Ellington. Remarkable are two early performances of the Chess Records houseband with Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass) and, probably, Fred Below (drums).

Eastwood shows his interest in jazz music with an interview and performance of improvising musician Pete Jolly, who introduces Phineas Newborn. Also Oscar Peterson and Thelonious Monk are present in the film with several performances. Eastwood explains his love for piano playing because of his mother took many Fats Waller records home saying; "This is real piano playing!".

As Clint Eastwood in his documentary states:

"I've always felt that jazz and blues were true American art forms. Maybe the only really original art forms that we have."



Reviews

Editorial Reviews Amazon.com


It may have been underrated when first broadcast on PBS on consecutive nights in the fall of '03, but executive producer Martin Scorsese's homage to the blues is a truly significant, if imperfect, achievement. "Musical journey" is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for the seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues--the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll--from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Because the absence of lengthier vintage clips is the principal drawback of the series, Clint Eastwood's Piano Blues is the best of the lot; a musician himself, Eastwood simply lets the players play, which means we get extensive file footage of the likes of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Nat "King" Cole, as well as new performances by Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others.

Sam Graham

Back to recordings