Soul Shot

Summer Of Soul is winning awards and breaking records. But the documentary is only the first in a series of cinematic partnerships between Questlove and buzzy desi producer Joseph “Jazzbo” Patel

- EDWIN HOUGHTON

Summer Of Soul, the directorial debut from Roots drummer and Tonight Show bandleader Questlove, is a story for the ages. Now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize before being picked up by Hulu/Searchlight in a record-breaking distribution deal. Its power to move audiences – seemingly across all categories – stems directly from the way it immerses a viewer in the tense air of a very specific time and place: Harlem, New York, 1969. The film’s backbone is footage of The Harlem Cultural festival shot across six Sundays of live music from a who’s who of soul on the eve of the 1970s: Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King...the set-list goes on and on and spills sideways into blues, pop, latin jazz and afro-funk. It is an almost overwhelming motherlode of priceless performances but the film’s genius is the way that Questlove and his longtime friend and co-director Joseph “Jazzbo” Patel have cut and set these gems.