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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
PFOS Film Reports Anyone?
PFOS Film Reports Anyone?
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harp-er
357 posts
Mar 01, 2013
6:03 AM
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Wondering what you all who got to see the film last night have to say about it. I truly hope you enjoyed it, given that it's been so hard to get to see, and maybe you had to act as the promoter in your area.
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JInx
413 posts
Mar 01, 2013
6:13 AM
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The NYC show was thoroughly enjoyable. After show, two players from the film gave a question-answer presentation. In the talk the classical cat revealed that he gets paid $6 grand for his 1/2 hour gig!
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Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
Moon, moon, moon
Last Edited by JInx on Mar 01, 2013 7:53 AM
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groyster1
2177 posts
Mar 01, 2013
6:44 AM
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tried to get it shown in knoxville...could not generate enough interest
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Rhartt1234
83 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:02 AM
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It was like Modern Marvels: Harmonica. A nice encapsulation of history, styles and players, but nothing revelatory for most Blues fans or harmonica players.
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ridge
394 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:41 AM
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I had a nice time. If you expect it to be full of harmonica geekery, then you will be let down. Ryan's assessment is pretty spot on.
Despite that, it was fun and had some cool interview footage. I laughed more than a few times during the film.
The Waltham, MA showing had a good turnout of local harmonica talent which was a nice benefit.
Surprisingly, there were quite a few people there who were not harmonica players.
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Rick Davis
1365 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:50 AM
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Packed house in Denver. People were surprised that it was funny in places; I heard lots of comment about that.
Nic Clark & Bad Brad Stivers played on stage before the screening, and after the show we invited all the folks to a nearby blues jam led by Al Chesis. It was a fun night.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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Greg Heumann
2037 posts
Mar 01, 2013
8:02 AM
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A nice turnout but far from a full house in Santa Rosa. I enjoyed the show. So much of it was filmed many years ago. Gary Primich interviews. Chris Michalek playing. Jason Ricci in the pre-Ultimate-57 days - he used an SM57 plus one of my volume controls plus a wireless transmitter - looked like a baseball bat. I thought the film did a good job of introducing people to harmonica, helping them to understand what harmonica is about.
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/Greg
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JInx
414 posts
Mar 01, 2013
8:07 AM
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The clips of Jason Ricci, damn he sounded good. I've got to check out some of his studio work.
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Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
Moon, moon, moon
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Rick Davis
1366 posts
Mar 01, 2013
8:33 AM
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Greg, I agree. The film progressed well. The pacing was good. It was easy to watch and I think it will appeal to non-harp players. I also like the way they saved the blues part until the 2nd half of the film.
Jason was great. Primich, Estrin, all of them. I was impressed with Bonfiglio's passion for the instrument and the tone. He may play classical music and get $6000 for a performance but he digs the tin sandwich the same way as the rest of us.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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joshnat
210 posts
Mar 01, 2013
10:04 AM
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Last night in Boston (area): good crowd, great intro by Annie Raines and a nice jam at the end. The content of the movie was undoubtedly interesting and informative. Really speaks to our inferiority complex, that we're not "real" musicians.
However, production values were pretty amateurish. I only say this in the context of the producers trying to secure a distribution deal. It doesn't "look" ready for prime time.
Really big focus on Popper. Ok, so he's probably one of the more popularly known players, but just a few snippets of Kim and Rod. Some good interview content with Portnoy, Filisko and Estrin. Would have liked to have heard them play a bit.
Paid homage to the Walters as well. I was impressed that they started with Big Walter in the discussion of tone. Tone-wise, no mention at all of William Clarke, who to me, was a tone monster.
A tiny snippet on Butter. That really surprised me. I know his family is working on stuff so maybe they didn't allow too much. Thank you Jason for introducing him in the film.
Also thought they could have spent a bit more on Larry Adler, though he did get props.
And good coverage of Jason. I was glad to see/hear him there. Next time somebody teases you about playing a toy instrument, show them Jason clips.
Just my $0.02.
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oldwailer
1952 posts
Mar 01, 2013
11:00 AM
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I really enjoyed the show. It was definitely a B movie in production values--but the content was great. I think this movie, if it were released broadly, could bring a few new players into the arena.
If you're looking for heavy information on how the harp works and how to make it better--try You Tube--as entertainment--the movie is very good, from my perspective. . .
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Oldwailer's Web Site
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"Too Pretty for the Blues."
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Kingley
2372 posts
Mar 01, 2013
11:13 AM
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"Tone-wise, no mention at all of William Clarke, who to me, was a tone monster."
Damn straight! William Clarke is up there with Big Walter and James Cotton for tone.
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groyster1
2179 posts
Mar 01, 2013
11:22 AM
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what about the 2 sonny boys...any mention of them???
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Rick Davis
1369 posts
Mar 01, 2013
11:39 AM
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groyster, yes, both SBs were mentioned. I think the makers of the film had something like 900 hours of film. The finished product is about an hour and a half. They had to make some choices.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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joshnat
211 posts
Mar 01, 2013
12:38 PM
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@Rick, you're right about both SB's being mentioned, but still very little about SB1, and his influence on the harp as a lead instrument. Still, if they had so much material I can see how hard it could be to distill it down to something dynamic and watchable.
I'm still bummed that there was so little on Butter, though. He deserves his own movie, as do the Walters and the SB's.
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snakes
692 posts
Mar 01, 2013
1:28 PM
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Seattle was a sold out with 65 participants, although there seemed to be a few extra seats. Thank you Tim and Michelle Burge and the Washington Blues Society for making this event happen. As for the movie it was very entertaining, but nothing revelatory. Defintely worth owning if you can put up with some lower grade film quality. That was my only disappointment. Some of the scenes which were fairly current seemed to be filmed with an old VHS quality camera. They did get a lot of harp players in the show and spoke to the passion of the instrument. Tone and respect for musicianship were also discussed as well as a brief synopsis of the evolution of the free reed instrument evolution that lead to the harmonica. It was nice to see some of my harmonica heroes speaking casually into the camera. Hopefully it will come out on DVD as it will most likely be more enjoyable on a smaller format viewing screen.
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snakes in Snohomish
Last Edited by snakes on Mar 01, 2013 1:28 PM
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groyster1
2182 posts
Mar 01, 2013
1:30 PM
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glad you got to see it weldon....peace&joy
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bluzlvr
510 posts
Mar 01, 2013
2:04 PM
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I enjoyed the film a lot. As Kingly said, no mention of William Clarke, but I guess they didn't have room for EVERYbody.
Overall I found it inspiring. I couldn't wait to get back to my car and start blowin' on my "travel harp"...
myspace
Last Edited by bluzlvr on Mar 01, 2013 2:07 PM
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robbert
195 posts
Mar 01, 2013
3:39 PM
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Around 90 tickets were sold in the little berg of Grass Valley, so the viewing room was nicely filled.
Good intro by the host, a local harp player, lots of harp players in attendance. Nice mix of men and women, seemed like a fair spread of ages.
The film was well edited and paced, and well received, judging by the laughter and applause.
Image quality did not seem to be an issue as most of the folks were harp enthusiasts. The film, despite some grainy footage throughout, seems to have won a few film festival awards.
I guess the grainy quality lends a little charm to the guerrilla nature of indie film making.
I think the film is a pretty good introduction to harmonica, as the interviews discuss in depth what is to play the instrument...and a lot of inspiration is expressed.
Much thanks to those who brought it to GV!
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kudzurunner
3955 posts
Mar 01, 2013
5:29 PM
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Todd Slobin was nice enough to send me a preview copy, which I watched 90% of last night and finished off this evening. I figured I'd write him a few thoughts with a pull quote or two, but by the time I'd put thoughts to paper, I had a full fledged review. I gave him my blessings to quote anything he felt like quoting, be it a pull-quote or two, or the whole enchilada. Here, in any case, is the full review.
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I really enjoyed Pocket Full of Soul, front to back. I was astonished and impressed at its breadth and amazed at the wealth of compelling personal testimony, social history, and creative insight that it packs in. It is the closest thing to a definitive survey of the harmonica world that we're likely to see in our lifetimes.
Although harmonica folk in general like to believe that the world revolves--or should revolve--around them, we blues harmonica folk really think that the instrument belongs to us. PFOS gives us lots of footage, both contemporary and historical, to joy in, but it also takes the time to give us a round-the-harmonica-world tour. Jazz, classical, funk, a little bit of country, and those vaudeville-tinged trios from the 40s and 50s, plus excursions to Taiwan, Haiti, and the valley in Germany where Matthias Hohner set up show in the mid-1800s. PFOS is quite a bit longer than the standard 60 minute documentary format, but it easily earns its length. The filmmakers have accumulated a staggering array of interview footage with contemporary blues players, including James Cotton, Magic Dick, Sugar Blue, Billy Branch, Rick Estrin, Rod Piazza, Madcat Ruth, Mark Hummel, Annie Raines, Jason Ricci, Jon Gindick, and the late Gary Primich. But the jazz players are here, too--Toots Thielmans, William Galison, Fredric Yonnet--and a slew of others, idiom-crossers like Howard Levy, Wade Schuman, Rob Paparozzi. Have I forgotten Mickey Raphael? Huey Lewis, who narrates it? The historical footage of Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (the second), Sonny Terry, Stevie Wonder?
Too much! It's easy to quibble with certain post-production decisions, such as the HUGE WORDS that fly on and off screen when the filmmakers don't trust us to hear and appreciate the importance of what certain interviewees are saying. The visual field feels a little frantic sometimes, and the split-screen framing sometimes feels amateurish. Annie Raines, one of only two female players in the film, shouldn't be asked to carry quite so much representative weight. It's easy to quibble--but, quibbling like that, as we harmonica players are fond of doing, it would be easy to miss the point: this film is US, all of us. We're a little frantic. We play a small, frantic instrument. The best among us have figured out how to make beautiful, soulful music on the thing. And the auteurs behind PFOS, Marc Lempert and Todd Slobin, have managed to do precisely that with this film. It's slightly crazed, it's slightly excessive, but so are we, my friends. Pocket Full of Soul is a labor of love. Lempert and Slobin should be saluted for the years of hard work it took to build this thing and slide it into the water. It's exactly what we're about--we harmonica players--and that's more than enough for me. Give a copy to your friends. They might just begin to understand who you are.
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kudzurunner
3956 posts
Mar 01, 2013
5:33 PM
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I left out the cameo by Buddha--with some kick-ass playing, I might add.
And yes, Jason sounded devilishly good as well. The opening sequence with Magic Dick playing "Whammer Jammer" is the only footage I've seen that give you a decent chance of really seeing what he's doing at every moment.
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Buzadero
1047 posts
Mar 01, 2013
5:34 PM
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" Give a copy to your friends. "
I'd be happy just being able to get a copy for myself.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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CarlA
282 posts
Mar 01, 2013
5:50 PM
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"kudzrunner
Todd Slobin was nice enough to send me a preview copy, which I watched 90% of last night and finished off this evening. I figured I'd write him a few thoughts with a pull quote or two, but by the time I'd put thoughts to paper, I had a full fledged review. I gave him my blessings to quote anything he felt like quoting, be it a pull-quote or two, or the whole enchilada. Here, in any case, is the full review."
SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE!!!!!!!!!!
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xuploadxxxxxxxyourxxxxcopyxxxxxxonxxxxxxxxxxyoutubexxxxxxxx
adamxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Last Edited by CarlA on Mar 01, 2013 6:00 PM
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kudzurunner
3957 posts
Mar 02, 2013
4:42 AM
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Funny. Obviously I'm not going to upload it to YouTube.
I assume that at some point in the not-too-distant future the filmmakers will make it available for sale to the general public. I was writing with that assumption in mind.
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harp-er
358 posts
Mar 02, 2013
2:08 PM
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Thanks to all for the reports. I remain in the same position I was in before the showings, ie., waiting for the DVD or other available medium for viewing the film.
This is where he says: "My son, patience is a virtue. All things come to those who can wait."
Uh, I'm, like, waitinggggggggg!
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Rick Davis
1380 posts
Mar 02, 2013
4:43 PM
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In one short scene in the film there is video of Buckweed (Todd Edmunds, who was Jason's bass player for years) playing on stage with Gary Primich. Holy crap! Todd lives in Denver now near Ziggies and he comes to my jam occasionally. He never told me he played with Primich! I nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw that. Todd is bass player to the immortals.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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TexasRico
3 posts
Mar 03, 2013
5:14 PM
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Houston had a really good crowd - a sellout according to the site (though if I'm not mistaken, the filmmakers, who were in attendance,are local). Sonny Boy Terry warmed up the crowd just outside the lobby before the movie.
Film was enjoyable, well-paced, and covered a wide range of harp styles (so, yeah, i picked up a used Harmonicats slice of vinyl today). And yeah, maybe not Ken Burns production values, but not distracting in terms of the quality of footage. And my wife had a good time, so it was a hit as far as I'm concerned!
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snakes
694 posts
Mar 04, 2013
12:26 PM
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Thanks George Royster!
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snakes in Snohomish
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bonedog569
846 posts
Mar 04, 2013
1:22 PM
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I went with a keyboard player buddy. He was most impressed with Jason. I think Jason is quoted saying something like Butter was the next major figure to influence a lot of players because "he was the first guy who wasn't trying to sound like Little Walter. I think something along those same lines can he said of Jason. The 'Butter' of our times.
A few other good quotes - I can't remember who said them- and these are rough:
"harmonica - takes a minuite to play, a lifetime to master"
"just because it's easy to pick up and play - doesn't mean everyone should" - amen
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