Call them the Blues Brothers 2003 - in Marc Levin's lively
verite-driven film, hip-hop legend Chuck D (of Public Enemy) and
Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess and heir to the Chess Records
legacy) return to Chicago to explore the heyday of Chicago Blues as
they unite to produce an album that seeks to bring veteran blues
players together with contemporary hip-hop musicians such as Common
and members of The Roots. Along with never-before-seen archival
footage of Howlin'Wolf are original performances by Koko Taylor,
Otis Rush, Magic Slim, Ike Turner and Sam Lay.
Says Levin, "When we were shooting Sam Lay and his band at the
Chicago Blues Festival, they were playing Muddy Waters'classic, 'I
Got My Mojo Workin.'I closed my eyes and was transported back to
when I was a 15-year-old hanging in my buddy's basement listening
to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for the first time. My life was
changed that day, and 35 years later the music's still shakin'my
soul. The feel of that day in the basement is what I have set out
to capture in this film."
Film Credits
Directed by: Marc Levin
Produced by: Daphne Pinkerson, Marc Levin
Director of Photography: Mark Benjamin
Edited by: Bob Eisenhardt
Production Manager: Amy Sazama
Field Producer: Gina Barge
Associate Producer: Dan Luskin
Interviews: Marshall Chess, Chuck D, Jamar Chess, Phil Chess, Koko
Taylor, Mrs. Willie Dixon, Magic Slim, Common, Sam Lay, Mike
Bloomfield, Morris Jennings, Phil Upchurch, Louis Satterfield, Gene
Barge, Pete Cosey, Kyle, Juice, Bob Koester, Common
Featured Performers: Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins, Otis Rush, Koko
Taylor, Chuck D, Common, Sam Lay, Lonnie Brooks, Smokey Smothers,
Magic Slim, "Electric Mud Band": Pete Cosey, Phil Upchurch, Louis
Satterfield, Morris Jennings, Kyle, Rahzel and Ahmir (a.k.a.
?uestlove) of The Roots
Archival Performances: Paul Butterfield, Bo Diddley, Sonny Terry
& Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson,
Howlin'Wolf
