Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance WriterWARMING BY the Devil's Fire is a docu-drama that explores the tensions and the relationship between the blues and gospel. Written and directed by Charles Burnett, the film is the fourth in the series of seven films making up 'The Blues: A Musical Journey'.
The series is currently playing at Redbones the Blues Café in New Kingston on Thursdays and Saturdays. The series is presented by the United States Embassy and Redbones as a celebration of Black History Month.
Warming by the Devil's Fire manages to easily cross the divide between informing and entertaining. It provides laughter and is filled with several blues classics that are sure to get either the feet tapping or fingers snapping, or both. Music from Son House, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mamie Smith, Dinah Washington, Blind Lemon Jefforson, Charlie Patten, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Bessie Smith makes for a good listen.
In a melodious voice, quite suited to a blues tale, Carl Lumby as the voice of young Jr. takes us on the journey of a young boy who spends a short time learning about the blues, that is, 'warming by the devil's fire', before being baptised. His trip through blues history is sponsored by his wayward uncle, Buddy, an intriguing character who provides much laughter.
BLUES DEVELOPMENT
Buddy literally eats, sleeps and breathes to the tune of the blues. His lessons to Junior are used as the excuse for filling the story with information about blues development. The movie, however, does not merely stop at where it is plausible for Junior to get information. Several bits of archival footage of performances and interviews are also included. The narrator also adds to the information being passed on by Buddy.
The dramatic element allows the blues to take on a lived-in experience, adding much needed animation to beef up the archival footage of either live performances or interviews. Through Buddy's wayward journey through the south, the audience is allowed to experience the blues as a lover of the genre experiences it. It is shown in intimate
settings or at a party. Though Junior's
experience one also gets to see how those who created the music lived, without it
having to be said by a narrator.
By taking his nephew through a journey into the blues, Buddy literally sets up the
tensions between gospel and the blues. This is the heartbeat of much of the tale, as both Buddy and the narrator often point to blues singers who either sang both blues and gospel or changed from one to the other or were said to have sold their soul to the devil.
The final two films in the series are Red, White and Blue, directed by Mark Figgis, and Piano Blues, directed by Clint Eastwood. The first instalment in the series, Feel Like Going Home, directed by the series' executive producer, Martin Scorsese, will be replayed at the café on February 5, 2005. The embassy's celebration of Black History Month will culminate on February 25, 2005 with a performance by Sista Monica at Emancipation Park, New Kingston.
