Overview

"Named to Kirkus Review's List of ""Best Indie Books of 2023"" ""A documentarian revisits the funkiest musical byways in this scintillating memoir...A vibrant, entertaining panorama of music-making and the picaresque struggle to capture it on film."" -Kirkus* Starred Review 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."

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9781958861097

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Filmmaker Robert Mugge has . . . established himself as the cinema's foremost music documentarian, with a career that includes . . . chronicling individual performers (Al Green, Sun Ra, Ruben Blades) and various music styles (blues, reggae, bluegrass, etc.). -Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter To describe the recent films of the documentarian Robert Mugge as cultural reference books doesn't mean to imply that these explorations of the musical byways of Southern rural America are lacking in pungent musical sap. Documents of a flourishing below-the-radar culture, they are archival records as well as entertainments. -Stephen Holden, The New York Times The prevalence of documentaries about musicians is a curse, because most of these films do a terrible job of showcasing music. One rare exception is the work of the director Robert Mugge, whose film Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise . . . is one of the most satisfying portraits I've ever seen. -Richard Brody, The New Yorker Years from now, when . . . filmmaker Robert Mugge leaves behind his remarkable legacy of priceless documentation . . . musicologists, cultural historians and just plain folks are going to hail Mugge as a national treasure. Retrospectives of his work will stretch into the future, providing a timeless record of artistic expression and pure entertainment. -Jeff Shannon, The Seattle Times

"""Filmmaker Robert Mugge has . . . established himself as the cinema's foremost music documentarian, with a career that includes . . . chronicling individual performers (Al Green, Sun Ra, Rubén Blades) and various music styles (blues, reggae, bluegrass, etc.)."" -Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter ""To describe the recent films of the documentarian Robert Mugge as cultural reference books doesn't mean to imply that these explorations of the musical byways of Southern rural America are lacking in pungent musical sap. Documents of a flourishing below-the-radar culture, they are archival records as well as entertainments."" -Stephen Holden, The New York Times ""The prevalence of documentaries about musicians is a curse, because most of these films do a terrible job of showcasing music. One rare exception is the work of the director Robert Mugge, whose film Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise . . . is one of the most satisfying portraits I've ever seen."" -Richard Brody, The New Yorker ""Years from now, when . . . filmmaker Robert Mugge leaves behind his remarkable legacy of priceless documentation . . . musicologists, cultural historians and just plain folks are going to hail Mugge as a national treasure. Retrospectives of his work will stretch into the future, providing a timeless record of artistic expression and pure entertainment."" -Jeff Shannon, The Seattle Times"

Author Information

Robert Mugge has produced, directed, written, and edited more than three-dozen films and TV series examining various aspects of American and world culture. This is his first book.

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