SXSW ’18: Milford Graves Full Mantis

You could say Milford Graves is an experimental jazz musician. He is the co-holder of a medical patent and often records the human heart as part of a long-term holistic musical project. Graves is also generally considered part of the free jazz school, but as is often the case, that label is not sufficient for his music. Graves’ former student Jake Meginsky and co-director Neil Young document the percussionist’s music and ideas in Milford Graves Full Mantis (trailer here), which screens at this year’s SXSW.

Graves has played with some of the greatest names in free jazz. In fact, we hear him playing with a decidedly free group early in the documentary. However, whenever Grave’s percussion is front and center, it is totally accessible. We can hear African and Asian influences in there, but we are always talking about rhythm—sometimes boisterous and sometimes hypnotic, but always propulsive.

To approximate the experience of their lessons, Meginsky prompts Graves to speak his peace during Full Mantis—and he has a lot to say. Some of his ideas are a bit out there, but they are the eccentricities of a survivor. He has lived quite a life, having worked as a trained physician’s assistant (making us wonder if he ever played with Eddie Henderson, the jazz M.D.) and made it through the tumult of the 1960s in relatively intact.

He generally seems philosophically and empathically inclined, particularly during a concert in Japan at a school for autistic children. For most musicians, that would have been a tough gig, but he and dancer Min Tanaka use rhythm to reach the student on a profound level. Nor do they let it ruffle their feathers when some of the kids encroach on the performance space and in some cases start playing along. Fortunately, somebody captured it on a video camera, because it is an absolutely extraordinary performance that is quite moving, both emotionally and physically, in a toe-tapping kind of way.

The Japanese concert is such a crescendo, it probably should have concluded the film, but there is at least one more sequence that will stick with viewers for a long time to come. Graves relates a harrowing 1960s encounter with street crime and racism that sort of cuts both ways from the perspective of current gun and law enforcement controversies.

Full Mantis ranges freely across topics that interest Graves, including martial arts (that is where the mantis reference comes in), medicine, and of course music. His fans would not want it any other way. Meginsky and Young might just win over some new ones for him with their meditative yet surprisingly zesty treatment. Highly recommended anyone who enjoys feeling some rhythm, Milford Graves Full Mantis screens again tomorrow (3/15) and Friday (3/16), as part of the 2018 SXSW.

SXSW ’18: Ruben Blades is Not My Name

It is tough to get discovered working in a record label’s mailroom, but it sure helps if producer-recording artist Larry Harlow has the office next door. Ruben Blades also had some catchy songs he worked on during his lunch breaks—as well as a law degree from Harvard. For some, Blades was the last great Fania superstar, who helped the Salsa company breakout internationally with his politicized lyrics. To others, he is a recognizable actor from Hollywood films like The Two Jakes and Mo’ Better Blues. Supposedly winding down his musical career with a farewell tour, Blades welcomed filmmaker Abner Benaim’s camera to help explicitly define his legacy in Ruben Blades is Not My Name (trailer here), which premiered at this year’s SXSW.

It is easy to see why questions of legacy are top of mind, given how many of the Fania All-Stars are no longer with us (including Ray Barretto, Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoie, and Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez). On the other, many of the surviving Fania artists are conspicuously missing (particularly those involved in litigation), but at least the great Larry Harlow is present and accounted for. Regardless, the sequences directly pertaining to Fania are definitely the doc’s strongest, which is fortunate, because they are also what Blades fans probably most want to see. Alas, those hoping for the definitive “making of” history of Color of Night with Bruce Willis and Jane March will have to look elsewhere.

Conversely, the film is at its weakest when celebrating Blades’ political activism, possibly because his generally leftist worldview so closely aligns with that of Benaim’s. However, we have to give Blades, the one-time Panamanian presidential candidate, credit for expressing some criticism of the Chavez/Maduro regime, even though he is nowhere near as vociferous as he was speaking out against Reagan’s anti-communist policies in the 1980s. Nevertheless, he was largely on the sidelines when the Chavists and their allies used ostensibly democratic constituent assemblies to roll back democracy throughout Latin America—a fact a different, less radicalized filmmaker might have pressed him on.

In any event, Blades is clearly running this show, which will probably be fine with his fans. To his credit, he faces up to the illegitimate son he recognized relatively recently in 2015—and that is obviously a hard topic for Blades to discuss so openly. Altogether, it is decent portrait of an internationally influential artist. Recommended for fans of Blades and Fania, Ruben Blades is Not My Name screens again this Tuesday (3/13) and Wednesday (3/14), as part of the 2018 SXSW.

SXSW ’18: People’s Republic of Desire

Chinese live-streaming might not have the weird fetish appeal of the Japanese idol industry, but the fake egalitarianism and built-in exploitation make it even more perverse. Popular hosts and singers on the YY streaming platform can make tens of thousands of dollars per month, but the system is still stacked against them. Molecular biologist-turned documentarian Hao Wu dives deep into the YY ecosystem in People’s Republic of Desire (trailer here), which premiered at this year’s SXSW.

Shen Man is an up-and-coming YY host, who is the sole support of her unemployed father and step-mother. She will be a genuine contender during the annual YY competition, because she has a number of well-heeled patrons and a major YY talent agency backing her. If you read YY’s media kit, it probably makes the platform sound like an egalitarian place, where average folk determine who is successful with their votes and on-line buzz. In reality, they might be able to boost a host from obscurity to a modest following, but once big-dollar patrons start throwing online (but very real) money around the live-caster’s “showroom,” the serfs are effectively frozen out of the action.

Big Li is maybe the last exception. He is considered the “diaosi” (a hard to translate term for a homely underclass male) who made good. He is the last of the unagented hosts who will meaningfully compete in the YY contest. A win will bring online fame, as well as more sponsors and hopefully gifts, but it comes at a price. Agencies will spend hundreds of thousands ofreal dollars on online votes, which they charge back to clients, making second place an expensive disappointment.

Wu follows both hosts through two competitions and a very messy year of scandals and personal strife in between. Wu’s approach is primarily sociological, with a special focus on the disenfranchised diaosi, who become increasingly disconnected from the live-streamers they helped build. There is also a pronounced element of sexism in how female live-streamers are treated. Even top talent like Shen Man must regularly field vulgar comments and many of their patrons clearly expect sexual favors in exchange for financial support.

However, we see enough of the inner workings of YY and major agencies (many of whom seem to be bankrolled by sketchy underworld types) to know this racket is fishy. Frankly, someone should do a full-scale expose of the Chinese live-streaming industry, but there is not exactly a robust tradition of investigative journalism on the Mainland.

Desire manages to make Western social media look less corrosive and divisive, which is definitely quite an achievement. As director and editor, Wu shows a keen eye for human drama, but still gives viewers a good overview of the bigger picture. He vividly illustrates the disparity between migrant workers and the oligarchical patron class, without belaboring the point. Highly recommended as a snapshot of contemporary Mainland society, People’s Republic of Desire screens again this afternoon (3/11) and Wednesday (3/14) during SXSW ’18.