The Adventure Continues...
The biggest Blues highlight comes at his first formal concert. Paul has rehearsed and chosen to perform a traditional Tuvan song. But as he is about to walk on-stage to perform, he is told the song's original singer is in prison and it would be disgraceful to sing his song. Paul is stunned! But Paul is a professional and the show must go on. He goes on-stage and after exhausting his remaining Tuvan repertoire, breaks into a Blues groove and starts improvising using the throatsinging technique and the few Tuvan words he knows. In that magical instant, Paul creates a new type of music. The crowd goes wild!Most Americans never see this part of the Blues. An American Artist in a foreign country playing the Blues to wide-eyed listeners and adapting them to their country's customs. Blues Artists serve as American Ambassadors all around the world every day. We're well represented.
As with any adventure, things go wrong. That's where you'll find the last Blues vignette. The Blues hits hard with the hospitalization of the recording engineer, along with other problems. Paul is very disoriented, has lost some of his medication, and faces the prospect of an early departure. Things are looking grim far from home. Then Paul picks up his guitar and holds it like he was hugging his mother. You see and feel the comfort he gets from his instrument and the medicine that pours out. The Blues come to the rescue.
Genghis Blues is not the slickest of documentaries. There are rough edges. But life has rough edges, the Blues have rough edges, and the reality of an adventure to northern Mongolia will have plenty of rough edges. But the adventure shines through.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A sad footnote accompanies this review. Paul has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Like many Blues musicians, he has never been adequately compensated in his career and cannot afford health insurance. A fund has been set up to defray his medical expenses.
