The Sager Group LLC (February 10, 2023)

Paperback. Signed.

New.

In Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker's Journey through American Music, Mugge describes the genesis of his twenty-five key music films, the methods employed in making them, and the experiences shared by him, his crews, and his subjects. This retrospection is organized not so much chronologically as thematically, in order to reveal connective tissue among efforts made over multiple decades.

As William Reynolds Ferris writes in the foreword to the book, "Mugge both thrills and exhausts us as he describes the process of making his films. He shifts his camera lens deftly from classical music to bluegrass to jazz to Tex-Mex to gospel to reggae to Hawaiian slack-key guitar. A gifted filmmaker and a fine writer, Mugge introduces us to musicians, record producers, and his trusted film crew, which at times includes his wife, Diana. This book offers an intimate view of his struggles as a filmmaker and his determination to capture our nation's music on film."

Notes from the Road is a fascinating exploration of the visual documentation of musical creation-a separate and distinct form of documentary filmmaking, as practiced by one of its chief proponents. The resulting "notes from the road" provide a lyrical introduction to his personal musical odyssey.

Since 1976, music filmmaker Robert Mugge has produced three dozen documentaries about various aspects of American culture, with particular emphasis on traditional forms of American music. In his first book, "Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker’s Journey through American Music," he describes the making of what he considers to be his twenty-five key music films, including "Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise," "Black Wax" with Gil Scott-Heron, "Gospel According to Al Green," "Saxophone Colossus" with Sonny Rollins, "Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture," "Deep Blues," "The Kingdom of Zydeco," "Hellhounds on My Trail: The Afterlife of Robert Johnson," "Rhythm ’N’ Bayous: A Road Map to Louisiana Music," "Last of the Mississippi Jukes," "George Crumb: Voice of the Whale," "Blues Divas," "New Orleans Music in Exile," "Pride and Joy: The Story of Alligator Records," and many more. Among his better-known films not focused on music are "Entertaining the Troops" with Bob Hope and "Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo." His favorites of his many awards include a Keeping the Blues Alive in Film Award from the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee (1992), a Gambit Weekly Big Easy Music Award for being a "Special Friend of New Orleans Music" (2007), and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Santa Fe Film Festival (2005) and the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival (2008). His key funders have included Britain’s Channel 4 Television, BMG, Starz, CPB, NEA, and the States of Hawaii and Louisiana. He also has served as Filmmaker in Residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and as an Endowed Chair Professor at Ball State University. He is married to his filmmaking partner, Diana Zelman, a former financial adviser.