John Seal
Like many music documentaries, Make It Funky! tends to stray into 'reliving the oldies' territory at times. Luckily, the music of New Orleans--the subject of the film--is resilient and vibrant enough to withstand the assault from the noble but out of their depth Bonnie Raitt and Keith Richards, and there are enough special moments to make up for it. There's some historical background on the development of the Crescent City's unique sound--Jon Cleary proposes, intriguingly, that N'Awlins was easier to reach via the Caribbean than via the swamps of mainland Louisiana--and snippets of archival footage offer tantalizing glimpses of Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. The bulk of the film consists of contemporary concert footage, much of which is inessential, but some of which is suitably hair raising. A single film cannot hope to examine the vast treasure trove that is New Orleans music, but Make It Funky! is a reasonable starting point for neophytes. And Snooks Eaglin ROCKS!
