Blues Variations

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produced, directed, filmed & edited by - Liz Witham
associate producer - Ken Wentworth

BLUES VARIATIONS is a documentary film about three very different Californian blues musicians, and how each of these musicians understands and manifests the blues in the context of their own lives.

David Jacobs-Strain, a 19-year-old freshman at Stanford University, sings the blues as though he is channeling the spirit of the Mississippi Delta. In spite of this, Jacobs-Strain feels that given his relatively privileged background, he can never truly know the sadness his voice describes when he sings the blues.

Sweet Harp Santana, a young Latina girl from Santa Rosa, California, is soft spoken and shy until she hits the stage with her harmonica. At 14, her exposure to the blues has led her to enjoy relationships with musicians in their 70s and 80s, an opportunity her family feels she would not have had without her connection to this music.

Mighty Mo Rodgers, an African American blues musician in his 50s who hails from Los Angeles, contemplates what he feels is the traditional role of blues in society. He thinks of blues in a more political/historical context, stating that the blues started with slavery and tells the story of the degradation of a people. He feels that the blues was a gift from god to African American people “to deny the nothingness of their existence”.
These characters’ very unique and different feelings about their craft are a testament to the ability of blues to be a source of strength and a spiritual reservoir for people from many different backgrounds

broadcast on KQED, San Francisco PBS affiliate,in 2004 - 2005
For info on about Blues Variations, please feel free to e-mail the director, Liz Witham