Soul Train!

Blue note recordFeel the beat. Director Sophie Huber dives deep into the genesis of jazz and its contribution to new art forms in her dynamic Blue Note Records: Beyond The Notes. Insightful comments shed a bright light on how this success story unfolded. Music fans and those who appreciate art should warmly embrace this dynamic tale of how a small label was able to make a big impact on our culture.

Done as a documentary This film shows how to men with little background on music managed to come to America with nothing and just because they liked the music transformed a new company into a giant in the independent recording industry. Fleeing persecution of Jews in Germany as World War 2 raged a then Young Alfred Lion and Max Wolff immigrated to New Jersey and shortly thereafter built a recording studio at their engineer’s home. Think of the humble beginnings of Microsoft in a garage as this new day had dawn for jazz.

Through vintage photos and film clips we get to experience that freedom of expression that only jazz can convey. Countless interviews with musicians like Coltrane and Miles Davis take you into the heart of how these two small time music visionaries simply let the artists play their way with little if any interference. The results were magical.

Being able to hear great music being made and seeing the fondness the musicians displayed towards the two company founders shows one big happy family. Further successes of the record label came in the late 40s and 50s as the music caught in with the masses.

More recent Inroads with hip-hop helped sow the seeds of a how a small company with a distinct jazz sound teeming with the raw and personal emotional experiences of Afro-Americans caught up in the social, political and economic Issues of the day perhaps now more than ever Had a voice. And today these same up issues are even more timely and relevant. Alas, the times may not truly be a changing.

Showtimes at Rio Theatre:

Saturday Oct. 6, 12:30 p.m.

Thursday Oct. 11, 6:45 p.m.