Review of the film "Summer of Soul"

I was looking forward to this. Of course, I went to see it.
"Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
In the summer of 1969, the year I was born, a few months before Woodstock, there was a "festival by Black people for Black people" held in NY called the Harlem Cultural Festival, and the footage still exists! Hearing that, as someone who calls himself a SOUL university student, there was no way I wouldn't go. Honestly, it had such an impact that I feel frustrated I didn't know about it.

So, I'll write down my various thoughts here, but since the best way to get a proper explanation is to look at articles like this one by Masaharu Yoshioka, I'll write from my own perspective.
The film "Summer of Soul" is a time machine where all the culture of 1969 comes jumping out by Masaharu Yoshioka
For those who want to go deeper and learn more, please check out the special issue of the magazine"BLUE&SOUL records"!

*****

While I am a heavy music listener and a performer myself, I also think daily about "how can I convey this charm to middle and high school students?" From my perspective, along with the aspect that "it was personally wonderful and too much fun," the first thing that came to mind was "is this something that will reach middle and high school students, soul beginners, or people not interested in American music?" So, I will write about the parts I personally found interesting in the first half, and some questions I had in the second half. Oh, I'll say this first: "American Utopia" was a film that ultimately left me with more questions, but this film had more fun parts. Rest assured.

Review of "American Utopia" please check that out too if you'd like

I'll skip the detailed historical background and the meaning of this footage, and just list the scenes that left a personal impression on me.
■ Setting aside Stevie Wonder's drum solo itself, starting with it to assert that the director is also a drummer, ?uestlove, is a lovely editing technique, isn't it?

■ The 5th Dimension was good. The story about how they were thought to be white despite being a group of five Black people, the final shout by Billy Davis Jr., and Marilyn McCoo's beauty—no, Florence was cute too. The anecdote about how they came to cover a song from the musical "Hair" is also good, and above all, it's great that Marilyn and Billy, who are still doing well, appeared and gave comments. By the way, their new Beatles cover collection is also good.

■ Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples performing "Precious Lord" in memory of Dr. King, who was assassinated the previous year, was of course good, but it also looked like Mavis came to snatch the microphone. Also, as mentioned in Yoshioka's article, the story that the role was actually meant for Aretha Franklin is amazing. It's just like Aretha to cancel at the last minute... and Mahalia passed away from illness two years later.

■ Gladys Knight & The Pips were good; actually, Gladys is cute, she must be about 25 years old. The singing and dancing of the men behind her are also the best. Seeing so many female vocalists appear like this, I reaffirmed that I like Gladys's singing because it's warm. Mavis and others tend to shout a bit and it's messy. Mavis was 30 at the time; I wish she would sing with a bit more composure... well, I guess that's her style.

■ Personally, the Latin section was great. Both Mongo Santamaria and Ray Barretto are wonderful. Among all the Black music lined up like this, I thought that the music that still sounds fun to any generation might actually be this Latin section.

...and so on. Of course, Sly & The Family Stone were good, but the sound was a bit poor, and the session felt a bit messy due to the momentum. Nina Simone, well, it's a bit too heavy by this time. Yes, this scene was already used in the Netflix Nina Simone documentary. Watching that, I remember thinking, "There was a festival like this?" Regardless, there is no doubt that it was a supreme festival where every Black genre appeared during the musically supreme period of 1969.

*****
...so, that's the story

Honestly, this film might be a good entry point to convey this historical fact, but when it eventually comes out on DVD or something, I want it to be a box set where I can watch the full live performances of each artist in chronological order!It's fine without commentary.At most, as an audio commentary. As a soul fan, that's what I want to see. The editing that juxtaposes the misery of America in 1969 with the misery of 2021 to convey a message that still applies today... of course, I think it's the best choice for ?uestlove, and a film finished with the best editing. I think it's wonderful editing... but there is always a caveat, it is merely the best"as a film shown in America".

Even for a music geek like me, 1969 was a period when many wonderful things were born in every genre, including rock and folk. It is a natural explanation that the suffering of citizens is the reason for that birth, but there are various miseries even right now. And with this way of depicting it, one could say the editing seems to want to say, "The fact that misery continues today means that wonderful things are about to be born today too!" Is that really so?? I think that is a completely different issue.

In the first place, do we have to go out of our way to explain that the past and the present are connected? Can't you tell without it being explained? No, even if a young person watched this film and thought "I see, I see" at the commentary, wouldn't the only thing left in the end be the "explained words"? What I want to say is, for example, if this festival had been made into a festival report film in the Woodstock style, there would be a flow where each person notices things like "What is this?", "Why is everyone so excited?", "This person is amazing", "Everyone is so stylish", and then the people who noticed would research it, right?A society with excessive commentary and warnings will increasingly stop people from thinking with their own heads and bodies...is what I think. Well, at present, the impression is that it's mostly people in their 40s and older who are going to see it and enjoying it.
(Note: I actually think journalism itself will become even more essential from here on out, though)

Oh, in that regard, Aretha's"Amazing Grace" was a straight-up document, so that's fine. That's a film for witnessing and experiencing the power of one singer. I thinkto convey it to people who don't know or weren't interested, you have to make them "discover" it. Like a new continent... but with the current way of doing business, I wonder if there are any clients who would be that patient...

*****

Then, finally, let's say goodbye while listening to "Oh Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, which also appears in this film.

Yes, I knew this song itself, of course, but I had never properly confirmed its origins, and what I learned this time is that this Edwin Hawkins group released it in 1968, the year before the festival, and it was a big hit? Moreover, it was the first gospel song to enter the top 5 on the pop charts. And when I looked into it further, this song wasa song that incorporated Bossa Nova which was very popular in America in the 60s! I had never interpreted it that way, but now that it's mentioned, it's not impossible to call it Bossa Nova-esque. If you listen to the album that contains this song, there are songs with even more Bossa Nova arrangements. The power of Black people to absorb everything like that and create something new is wonderful.

Such is the power of Black music. No matter what the genre becomes, Black music is physical. I think it was a wonderful event in the sense that you can confirm that. Please do go see it to confirm that for yourself. You can just ignore the context and political backstories for now, haha.

It's being advertised like this even in the Shibuya subway. As SOUL University, we hope that people of all generations will watch it.