I woke up this morning

March 31, 2001

I woke up this morning and rifled through my TiVo, looking for something to watch. I’d forgotten I’d recorded Genghis Blues earlier this week and zoned out.

It’s a fairly unremarkable documentary, in terms of its technique and of its construction. That said, the story is so captivating that it’s hard to knock it too much. The film is about a blind bluesman named Paul Pena who discovered the art of Tuvan throat singing while fuddling about on his shortwave radio. Somehow, he’d taught himself how to sing in this bizarre style, completely in a vacuum. Soon, he finds himself competing in the international Tuvan throat singing competition. The greatest part of this film is when Paul is forced to improv some performances on the spot, and comes up with a strange fusion of old American blues with a throat singing vocal that is absolutely magical.

“Genghis Blues” is all about transcending borders with the power of music. The fact that it could teach that lesson without ever feeling preachy is a minor miracle. I found myself so juiced by the movie that I wanted to run out and find out all about Tuva, throat singing and Paul Pena.

Note: I also tried generating some throat harmonics of my own, but it’s pretty much impossible.

Posted in Moving Pictures