Rating: 4.5/5
Criterion Challenge 2024 | 35/52 | Tunde Adebimpe’s Top 10
I don't know if it's a liability or an asset because sometimes I feel like I'm three or four different people. I want to paint a while, and it just burn within me just to paint, paint, paint, paint. Then that cools off, and then I wanna play my music, you know. That cool off, I wanna write poetry. I wanna do this. I wanna do something else. Actually, I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Howard Armstrong, aka Louie Bluie, was a member of America’s last known black string band. A multi-instrumentalist and artist, Armstrong started performing in 1930 and recorded his first record with guitarist Ted Bogan in 1934. Though the recording was a rag, Armstrong was just as comfortable playing Gershwin, Italian, or country—he met his audience where they were.
In this doc, we spend time with Armstrong and Bogan, hearing their stories and watching them perform at home and on stage.
Armstrong’s inventive humor and eccentric experiences are more compelling than I anticipated. He has a terrific collection of photos from his early performing years and drawings he did of his childhood, where he lived, and people he knew.
I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did! I wish they’d been able to scan or take more photos of his handmade book, ABCs of Pornography.