The Zydeco Road: The Road Stops Here

*(click here for a PDF of the poster)*	New Orleans Music in Exile A Film by Robert Mugge Starz Network By K-Paule Pachter Before Spike Lee released his film “When The Levees Broke” on HBO, the Starz cable television network aired “New Orleans Music in Exile,” a film by documentary filmmaker and director Robert Mugge. The director is no stranger to New Orleans or to Louisiana. Among his previous films are: “Rhythm & Bayous: A Road Map to Louisiana Music” (2000); “Iquanas In The House” (1996); and “The Kingdom of Zydeco (1994). For “New Orleans Music in Exile” Mugge traveled to the Crescent City two months after Katrina hit to get a first hand account from some of New Orleans most famed musicians and performers. These are artists who reside or resided in neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward, St. Bernard Parish, and Algiers, and who have been personally impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and for the first time perhaps have a chance to tell their stories of horror and heartbreak. Since the hurricane struck, musicians who made their living performing and recording in New Orleans have continued to perform in other cities across the country. The film follows some of them to such areas as Houston, Memphis, Lafayette and Austin. Many of these artists have also composed and recorded new material devoted to the people of New Orleans that survived or perished during the hurricane.
Katrina devastated New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and in its wake it nearly wiped out the city’s music culture. What Mugge captures so exceptionally well on film are the stories of such New Orleans music luminaries as Jon Cleary, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Kermit Ruffins, John Gros, The ReBirth Brass Band, Eddie Bo, Cyril Nevelle and Theresa Anderson. One simply needs to look at the devastation to Irma Thomas’s home and to her famed night spot, “The Lion’s Den” to realize that many like “The Soul Queen of New Orleans” are fortunate to have lived, let alone in exile.

The commentaries from the artists featured in the film are poignant, heartfelt and candid. But there’s also insight from some of New Orleans most important music leaders such as Jan Ramsey, Editor of OffBeat Magazine; Mark Samuels, President of Basin Street Records; and David Freedman of WWOZ Radio. There’s very little reliance on politicizing the event. Everyone already knows that the Bush Administration, FEMA, and others dropped the ball in their lack of an immediate response to this national disaster. We all saw the faces of the children, the elderly, the pets and the dead as they lined the Superdome or Convention Center. What we didn’t get to see up until now, is a close look into the New Orleans music community that was so personally affected by the disaster, and how artist are trying to put the pieces of their lives and career back together in exile from their beloved neighborhoods. Robert Mugge has a way of just letting his camera reach inside his subjects to capture candid moments and expressions. The camera is patient while the artists describe their pain and talk about their promise for the future. The film opens emotionally with Theresa Anderson performing “Like a Hurricane” in the recording studio, while images of the devastation from Katrina are interwoven. Mugge ends the documentary on a promising note with Dr. John performing “Home Sweet Home” from a Memphis stage. Just like the City of New Orleans will be rebuilt, the careers of all of these artists will be resurrected in time and they will return from their exile to fill the streets, clubs, dance halls and festivals with their great music.

For more information about “New Orleans Music in Exile” or other films by Robert Mugge, log onto www.robertmugge.com.

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