A blind blues singer you've probably never heard of goes to an Asian country you've probably never heard of and wins a prize for singing in a style you've probably never heard of. And two brothers, yeah, who you've probably never heard of, made a prize-winning documentary film about it.
Paul Pena is the blues singer. He's been playing and singing jazz, blues and world music since he was a child, working with T.Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and others. He played and sang at the Newport Folk Festival in 1969, cut a record in 1972, and in 1977 the Steve Miller Band had a hit with his song "Jet Airliner." He died of pancreatic cancer and complications from diabetes in October 2005, but not before his life took one final incredible twist.
In 1986 he was in his San Francisco apartment listening to short wave radio when he chanced upon a Radio Moscow broadcast of something he'd never heard before. It was an eerie style of singing that produced unbelievable tones, higher and lower than the human voice can normally make. He eventually discovered that it was known as "throat singing" made by the people of a place called Tuva, which was then part of the Soviet Union just north of Mongolia.
Pena was able to find one or two recordings of Tuvan throat-singing in those days before the world music explosion. And incredibly, he taught himself how to do it, and also learned the rudiments of the Tuvan language by translating texts from Tuvan into Russian, Russian to English, and then into the raised-dot system he uses to read English.
In 1993, Tuvan singer Kanger-ol Ondar toured the U.S., and when he sang in San Francisco, Pena introduced himself by singing a well-known Tuvan song to him. The two became friends, and Ondar invited Pena to compete in the triennial Tuvan cultural festival.
Enter brothers Adrian and Roko Belic. They were newly graduated from college where they studied film, and looking for a project. They had become fascinated with Tuva from a documentary about a trip taken to Tuva by Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, and through a series of events were signed up to make a film about Pena's trip to Tuva.
Tuva is an isolated, Shangri-La sort of a place in deep central Asia, influenced by many cultures including the Mongols of Genghis Khan. Genghis Blues is a heart-warming film about Pena's trip there with a motley retinue, and how he became an overnight sensation among the Tuvan people. And it's a loving tribute to Pena and his indomitable spirit.
Some claim that the blues is a universal language, and if the footage in this film is any indication, it certainly is. Pena, playing his resonator slide guitar, immediately draws a crowd wherever he goes, singing a combination of delta blues and Tuvan throat-singing styles.
The DVD includes an enlightening interview with the Belic brothers, who are delightful free spirits; a commentary track; and live concert footage of five numbers, duets by Pena and Ondar. It's an excellent package that gives full value. The film has won honors at festivals all over the world, including Sundance, and was nominated for a documentary Oscar in 1999.
You can learn more at Web sites for Paul Pena, Kanger-ol Ondar, this film and the Friends of Tuva. The soundtrack to this film has been reviewed by GMR, and can be found here.
