"Actor: Willie Dixon"

• Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey | DVD | (12/12/2008) from £19.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (15.01%)   |  RRP £22.99

  It may have been underrated when first broadcast, but executive producer Martin Scorsese's homage to the blues is a truly significant, if imperfect, achievement. "Musical journey" is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for these seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues--the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll--from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Some of the films (like Wim Wenders's The Soul of a Man and Charles Burnett's Warming by the Devil's Fire) use extensive fictional film sequences, generally to good effect. There's also plenty of documentary footage, interviews, and contemporary studio performances recorded especially for these films. The last are among the best aspects of the DVDs, as the bonus material features the set's only complete tunes. Lou Reed's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and the ElektriK Mud Kats' (with Chuck D. of Public Enemy) hip-hop-cum-traditional updating of Muddy Waters's "Mannish Boy" are among the best of them; on the other hand, a rendition of "Cry Me a River" by Lulu (?!) is a curious choice, even with Jeff Beck on hand. The absence of lengthier vintage clips, meanwhile, is the principal drawback. For that reason alone, Clint Eastwood's Piano Blues is the best of the lot; a musician himself, Eastwood simply lets the players play, which means we get extensive file footage of the likes of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Nat "King" Cole, as well as new performances by Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others. Overall, this is a set to savor, a worthwhile investment guaranteed to grow on you over the course of repeated viewings. --Sam Graham

• The American Folk Blues Festival Volume 1 - 1962-1966 | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £13.35   |  Saving you £-3.36 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Rediscovered after 40 years in the vaults these priceless recordings of legendary blues artists have been lovingly remastered for the DVD format. Between 1962 and 1966 huge tours were undertaken by the likes of Muddy Waters Otis Rush Memphis Slim John Lee Hooker Willie Dixon and many others. A popular stop-gap on the tour was a small TV studio in Germany where the acts would record their songs for posterity. It is from these shows that the recordings contained within are from.

• Willie Dixon: I Am the Blues | DVD | (08/04/2019) from £10.59   |  Saving you £7.40 (41.10%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The tracklist features: I Just Want To Make Love to You I Got The Blues Wang Bang Doodle Seventh Son Peace Sandy Field Built For Comfort Jungle Song

• Colin James Presents The Blues Masters | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In 1966 CBS Television America invited some of North America's greatest blues performers to gather in a studio in Toronto. The artists were recorded together and individually in sessions that lasted three days. The result was originally televised as part of the CBS Festival series but now more than 30 years later the session video tapes have been found restored and re-edited into this DVD. Blues Masters features the great Muddy Waters Willie Dixon and James Cotton in rare performances for a new generation. Tracklisting: Muddy Waters - I've Got My Mojo Working Otis Spann - Blues Don't Like Nobody Maybelle Hillary - How Long Has That Train Been Gone Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee - Cornbread And Peas Sonny Terry - Hooray These Women Is Killin' Me Brownie McGhee - Born And Livin' With The Blues Sunnyland Slim - Tin Pan Alley Blues Willie Dixon/Sunnyland Slim/Colin James - Crazy For My Baby Willie Dixon - Bassology Muddy Waters - You Can't Lose What You Never Had Bye Bye Baby Goodbye

• Willie Dixon - I Am The Blues | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-1.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  The tracklist features: I Just Want To Make Love to You I Got The Blues Wang Bang Doodle Seventh Son Peace Sandy Field Built For Comfort Jungle Song

• Jazz Collection - Vol. 1 | DVD | (05/06/2000) from £5.58   |  Saving you £9.41 (168.64%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Stan Getz Dexter Gordon Dizzy Gillespie Red Rodney... These are names synonymous with the great Jazz Age. The Legends Series features all these wonderful artists and others doing simply what they loved and lived for playing Jazz. Dizzy Gillespie Born John Birks Gillespie 21st October 1917 Cheran South Carolina USA. Died 6th January 1993. Acquired his nickname in the '30s as a result of his jestful behavior on and off stage. In the history of the development of Jazz trumpet

• Warming By The Devil's Fire | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Director Charles Burnett presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950s and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devillish moans of the blues.

• Jazz Legends | DVD | (18/12/2006) from £5.79   |  Saving you £2.20 (38.00%)   |  RRP £7.99

  These are the legendary jazz names that commanded the ultimate respect - Dizzy Gillespie John Lee Art Blakey Willie Dixon Stan Getz. They were living legends in their own lifetimes. On this DVD you can experience them playing live at their best with the very people who brought out the best in them.

• Jazz Collection - Vol. 2 | DVD | (03/07/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Stan Getz Dexter Gordon Dizzy Gillespie Red Rodney... These are names synonymous with the great Jazz Age. The Legends Series features all these wonderful artists and others doing simply what they loved and lived for playing Jazz. Dizzy Gillespie Born John Birks Gillespie 21st October 1917 Cheran South Carolina USA. Died 6th January 1993. Acquired his nickname in the '30s as a result of his zestful behavior on and off stage. In the history of the development of Jazz trumpet