Review: Summer of Soul

The big question with this kind of documentary is: just how much of a documentary does this need to be? If the selling point is the footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, featuring a cavalcade of the best and most important Black musicians in America across six Sundays, how much explaining and context do we need - especially when every minute of talking heads or historical background is a minute less of the music?

There will always be people dissatisfied no matter what the approach. Personally, fingers crossed that eventually there's a way to release the whole series of concerts (or as much as feasible) as stand alone performances; short of that, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised) is the best result we could ask for.

Presented by director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson from footage originally shot by Hal Tulchin (and then "lost" for half a century), Summer of Soul does a near-perfect job of putting the event in context while still giving the performances room to breathe. It's a thrilling ride, a backstage pass combined with front row seats to a festival of artists working at their peak.

It doesn't hurt that the backdrop itself is so interesting: the changes in Black America, and Harlem in particular, the social tensions of the time, the shifts in fashion (trad suits popular in week one were in the trash by week six), and the various political and economic balls that had to be juggled just to make the event happen are all intriguing.

But it's the acts themselves that are the real draw here, ranging from gospel groups and all but forgotten one-hit wonders to icons of the hippie era (the mixed race performers in Sly and the Family Stone set some audience members aback) and icons like Nina Simone and a (surprisingly confronting) Stevie Wonder - make sure to sit through the end credits to see Wonder verbally take down an assistant on stage in brutal fashion.

On their own, the performances are always interesting and often outstanding. Taken together, they make up an essential guide to the ins and outs of Black music and culture, reaching back into the past while pointing the way to the future. Talking head interviews with many of the surviving musicians only adds to the insights. Some were thrilled, others nervous; careers were on the cusp of greatness, starting a downwards slide, or just happy to be there.

Summer of Soul stands out as a reflection of an exhilarating moment in history, a record of an outstanding series of concerts, and a chance to see some of the funkiest fashions 1969 could serve up. It's a toe-tapping, feel-good triumph.

- Anthony Morris