MAT CALLAHAN’s SONGS OF SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION +
On Sun., May 5, ATA Gallery’s Other Cinema presents an extraordinary addition to its Spring calendar: A specal Sunday screening—and the West Coast premiere!–of Mat Callahan‘s
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation, with an in-person introduction by the much-missed musician/historian himself, a SF native and frontman for The Looters, now re-visiting from Switzerland!!…
This film, co-directed with Joe Johnson and Yvonne Moore, tells of the discovery of a long-lost revolutionary slave song, and the odyssey that led to its recording.
Along the way more songs, composed and sung by slaves either preparing or commemorating revolt, were discovered–as well as the songs of the Abolitionist movement.
Meeting the musicians and educators who joined the effort to bring these songs to life is vividly recalled in this stirring documentary. More than fifty musicians from many parts of the country are shown as they rehearse and perform songs that have not been heard for more than one hundred years.
To bring these songs to life, the makers have chosen a representative sample, arranged musical accompaniment, and made recordings.
The evening will open with a rare archival discovery—a 40-year old “lost reel”of a Stevie Wonder musical essay, in which Mr, Wonder also elucidates how contemporary Black musical forms emerged out of the Slavery and Jim Crow periods of US history.
***Showtime is 7PM. Admission is $10-100.
$10-100 DOORS @ 6:30 SHOW @ 7:00
ATA GALLERY 992 VALENCIA STREET SF
