Hello Everyone, I will be posting about Blues Fest next week, meanwhile come join Phil and I at Rosa’s Lounge this June 13th & June 14th!

I was able to make it down to Austin, Texas for the Red Gorilla Music Festival, March 10-12, and it was a wonderful experience. Del Breckenfeld, of Fender Guitars (a sponsor of Red Gorilla) had suggested that we show “Electrified” and “Cheat You Fair” at this relatively new festival, which runs concurrently with South By Southwest, and hooked us up with Roger Martinsen, one of the producer’s of the event. We decided we’d show both films, back to back, at a venue called The Chuggin’ Monkey in downtown Austin.

On the first day I arrived, I met with Roger, a fast-talking, former New Yorker, also sporting a shaved dome, and we immediately sprang into action. Our promotional postcards had already arrived — 5000 of them — and we had lots of “passing out” to do. About 1000 into it, Roger noticed a minor problem — there was no date on the postcard! Ever the undaunted promoter, Roger immediately suggested that we go to Office Max and purchase a date stamp, collect all of our postcards, stamp them and distribute them again. So, we did… and we did. At times like this, there is no time for feeling defeated or down, and we both gleefully sprang into action to make the best of what proved to be a minor obstacle.

Throughout Austin, from bar to bar we hoofed… from the Civic Center, to restaurants, and to public places of all kinds. There were mountains of fliers and postcards for films and events of all kinds, promoted mostly by exhibitors at the gargantuan South By Southwest Film/Music Festival. There were rockers from around the world, filmmakers, auteurs and fans. Billy Bob Thorton and his band were playing that night; there were rumors that REM would be playing at some local dive. In any case, Roger and I had a great time together and walked almost every inch of Austin on that first day. Five Starbucks coffees later, by evening, my dogs were blistered and battered, but I felt a great sense of achievement having passed out a good (properly stamped) 3500 postcards, promoting my film screening the next day.

On the day of the event, not a whole lot happened. Roger had some preliminary things to take care of, but our work had already been done. At around 1pm, we made it down to The Chuggin’ Monkey.

The screening was at 3pm. A photographer name Nikki Paschen was at the bar, already taking pics of people in the club and passerbyers. She had a great story how her boyfriend, a professional charter boatman, had recently captured a 600 lb. Mako shark with a tiny hook.

The screening was about to begin.

A group of guys from Sweden (one of whom had visited Maxwell Street) showed up, along with several other locals. Nanci Walker, Director of Creative Affairs from Universal Music Publishing, was also there.

It was a typical hot afternoon in downtown Austin, except for the fact that Maxwell Street was now being rediscovered at the Chuggin’ Monkey!

Nanci had to leave before the end of the film, but she gave me her card and asked that I call her about producing similar documentaries for Universal in the future. She thought my Maxwell Street film was very powerful and, potentially, marketable.

When it was over, I left for my hotel to take a nap and Roger and I planned to hook up later in the evening and hit some local clubs. From my hotel window, I could see the convention center, which was the focal point of South By Southwest.

That night, Roger and I met up and hit several places in downtown Austin, enjoying the local flavor along the way.

We discovered one little bar where 95 yr. old Chicago blues icon, Pinetop Perkins was playing the piano with his band.

Before we left, Roger and I were lucky enough to get our picture taken with Pinetop, a true, blues legend and generous man.

See you next year, Austin!

Phil Ranstrom Writer/Producer/Director

“Electrified: The Story of the Maxwell Street Urban Blues” “Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street”

Technorati Tags: Red Gorilla, Pinetop Perkins, Fender, Austin, SxSW

Jimmie Lee Robinson performing Boss Man, from the DVD Extras of Electrified

Jimmie Lee Robinson (1931- 2002) was a lifelong resident of Chicago whose musical career was truly bracketed by Maxwell Street. He started playing guitar on Maxwell Street in the 1940s when he was still in his teens, and in 1998 he joined the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition and dedicated himself to the effort to save what then remained of old marketplace. Among his contributions to the cause: the protest song The Maxwell Street Tear Down Blues and two lengthy protest fasts, one in 1998 that lasted 62 days and another in 2000 for 81 days.

Jimmie Lee played with just about every Chicago bluesman, and woman, one can think of, starting with Memphis Minnie and Big Bill Broonzy in the late 40s. In the 50s, he formed his first band The Every Hour Blues Boys, played with Elmore James and eventually joined Little Walter’s band. He left Little Walter in the late 50s and recorded a few singles of his own.

In the ’60s, he worked with Willie Mabon, Sunnyland Slim, Mighty Joe Young, Shakey Jake, and Howlin’ Wolf and went to Europe as part of the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival with John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thornton and Eddie Boyd. By the 70s though, he had opened a candy store on Chicago’s South Side, and only played part-time, pretty much abandoning his music by the 80s.

Encouraged to return to the blues in the late 80s, he appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1991 and 1993, and eventually recorded his first full-length album, Lonely Traveler released on Delmark in 1994. In the last decade of his life, he mostly performed as an acoustic solo artist, and contributed his energies to the efforts to save Maxwell Street.

Resources:

• Cascade Blues Association profile of Jimmie Lee Robinson
• Delmark, Maxwell Street Blues: Remembering Jimmie Lee Robinson
• NY Times obituary

Technorati Tags: Maxwell Street, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Boss Man, Chicago Blues

On March 4, 1837, Chicago received its official charter from the state of Illinois. This event was commemorated this week on the blog This Day in Jewish History with an extensive entry about the history of Jews in Chicago.

Technorati Tags: Maxwell Street, Jewish history, Chicago

(YouTube Link)

A principal storyline in both Electrified and Cheat You Fair is how Maxwell Street fostered a unique blending of Black and Jewish culture. No one personified this blend more than the late Nate Duncan (1930-2006), the African-American owner of Nate’s Deli.

Some of the stories Nate shared with director Phil Ranstrom for Cheat You Fair about his more than 20 years on Maxwell Street:

• how he learned to cook kosher from the deli’s original Jewish owners;
• introducing his African-American clientele to Jewish food;
• his reflections on the Maxwell Street market.

Nate Duncan was also one of the featured stories in Near West Side Stories: Struggles for Community in Chicago’s Maxwell Street Neighborhood (source: Gapers Block) and the deli was the location for the scene from the movie The Blues Brothers in which Aretha Franklin performs Think.

Unfortunately, if you’ve never been to Nate’s, the only way to go there now is on film. As recounted in Cheat You Fair, the University of Illinois in Chicago demolished it as part of the redevelopment of the Maxwell Street market area.

More Cheat You Fair and Electrified clips on YouTube.

Technorati Tags: Maxwell Street, Aretha Franklin, Blues Brothers, Nate’s Deli, Nate Duncan, Cheat You Fair

Just a quick reminder that the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago is showing Cheat You Fair this Saturday February 2 at 8pm. A live Q&A with director Phil Ranstrom follows the screening.

The final act of the film details the various conflicts of interest between state government officials and local private developers which allowed this historic market to be destroyed. Among those taken to task is William Cellini who is once again in the news as a conspirator in a possible corruption case involving Patti Blagojevich, the Illinois governor’s wife.

Tags: William Cellini, Patti Blagojevich, Phil Ranstrom, Cheat You Fair, Maxwell Street

Electrified- The Story of the Maxwell Street Urban Blues will be launched at a party at Harry O’s in  Park City on Friday January 25th. In addition to the screening of the film, there will be a live performance by acclaimed blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and blues legend Hubert Sumlin. Actor Chevy Chase will be master of ceremonies. Fender has also donated a limited edition “Electrified” guitar that film executive producer Les Walgreen will present  to online auction house Charity Buzz for an auction  to benefit The Center for Environmental Education Online.

Electrified tells the definitive history of the Chicago blues. Written, directed and produced by Phil Ranstrom and narrated by actor Joe Mantegna, the film chronicles how the urban neighborhood of Maxwell Street created a unique environment of commerce and cooperation that led first to the hard-driving sound of the urban blues, and ultimately to rock and roll. Interviews with many of the legendary bluesmen who “studied at Chicago’s Maxwell Street school of music,” including Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmie Lee Robinson and the “father of rock and roll” Bo Diddley, complement the film’s historical narrative and create an exceptional history of this important era in American music.

A companion film, Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street, documents the last days of the historic Maxwell Street market. It premiered to critical acclaim at the Chicago International Documentary Film Festival in April 2007, and is scheduled to be shown at the Amnesty International venue at Sundance January 18-20 and the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago on February 2.

Both Electrified and Cheat You Fair were written, directed and produced by longtime Chicago resident  and Emmy nominated producer Phil Ranstrom who began the projects in 1994 shortly before the Maxwell Street market was demolished.

We’ve put some short clips from both films up on YouTube. They are all great, but here are my two favorites:

"We come up the hard way…" Uncle Johnny Williams on how the blues were born

Eddie "Jewtown" Burkes performing "Step It Up And Go"

Tags: blues, urban blues, Chicago blues, Maxwell Street, Sundance, documentary, Phil Ranstrom, Les Walgreen

Maxwell Street Chicago.

It was unique socio-cultural phenomenon, where people of all races and religions came together to buy, sell, bargain and sing the blues.

The birthplace of the urban blues and “the music school” for blues legends like Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Howlin’ Wolf and the “father of rock and roll” Bo Diddley.

Where a black man could own a Jewish deli and Jewish merchants would help black musicians find a commercial audience for their unique Chicago sound.

This blog is the companion to the films Electrified: The Story of the Maxwell Street Urban Blues and Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street, documentaries by Emmy-nominated producer & director Phil Ranstrom that chronicle the history of this remarkable, now demolished, urban space.

Electrified tells the story of the Chicago blues and Cheat You Fair documents the last days of the historic Maxwell Street market. This blog will bring you behind the scenes of the films, into the hearts and minds of the film-makers. And perhaps a few unexpected places as well.

All in the spirit of Maxwell Street Chicago.