Industry buzz

Nothing but the blues: In the tradition of "Ray" and "Walk the Line," the music biopic most likely to get tongues wagging this fall is "Cadillac Records." Focused on the Chicago blues scene circa 1955, the movie tells the true story of record-label impresario Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) and his stable of groundbreaking musicians, including Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Little Walter (Columbus Short) and Etta James (Beyoncé Knowles).To reinvent vintage recordings of "At Last," "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man," "Nadine," "I'm a Man" and other R&B classics, director Darnell Martin recruited drummer Steve Jordan as the film's music producer."The main thing was to get the feel right, to make sure we had goose-bumps moments," Jordan says. "It's not about re-creating the exact notes at a certain tempo. We wanted the music to affect you like the first time you heard the real stuff. It's about the vibe."Jordan, who has worked with Neil Young, John Mayer, Solomon Burke and Keith Richards, assembled a core unit of blues-drenched musicians to channel the performances of Chess Records' pioneering artists. His first hire: harmonica player Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds."Kim is basically Little Walter reincarnated," Jordan says. "He's the only one who can capture the feel, the soul, the sound, the relentless, incredible virtuosity that you hear in Little Walter's playing. It's part of Kim's DNA."Knowles, who executive-produced "Cadillac Records," jumped at the chance to play troubled but gifted singer James. Jordan modeled his approach for Knowles' part on "Lady Sings the Blues.""There's only one Billie Holiday, so it would have been ridiculous for Diana Ross to imitate Billie's singing style," he says of that 1972 film. "It was the same thing here: You don't want to stifle a great vocalist by having Beyoncé try to sing like Etta James. We wanted her to sing like Beyoncé, but with the sensibility of the music from that period. Learning about Etta James and her life was, I think, a revelation for Beyoncé."Taking its title from the Cadillacs that Chess gave artists when they made hit records, the film dramatizes a blurry line between exploitation and collaboration."Some people might say, 'Oh, he ripped them off.' Who knows what really happened, but at least you had a forum," Jordan says. "During this period, black people couldn't use certain water fountains or sit on a certain side of the bus. The fact that these incredible innovators and inventors could record their music and have it be heard - that's the one thing that comes out in it. The songs got recorded and it influenced generations of musicians, and we're talking about it today. We sent Chuck Berry's music to Mars."SOURCE:SFGATE.COM