TV Reviews : Singing the ‘Blues’ in the Life of Blacks

“Blues Highway,” which airs Sunday on TBS, concerns the ground troops of the blues, not the top brass. Instead of B.B. King or Buddy Guy, it presents the little-known men (and one woman) who give urgent voice to the “tough times and broken promises” that formed the experience of Southern blacks between the end of slavery and World War II.

The film, which has been nominated for an Oscar in the documentary short subject category, doesn’t present any startling new information as it depicts the grim lot of Mississippi Delta sharecroppers and their great migration to the northern cities, where wartime defense jobs provided long-sought escape.

Its aim is really to illustrate the social context that generated the blues. Writers-producers-directors Vince DiPersio and Bill Guttentag do so directly and concisely, through Alfre Woodard’s narration, vintage film and photos, and interviews with participants.

And it’s not a musicological treatise. The performance scenes, shot in rural roadhouses, living rooms and Chicago nightclubs, provide vibrant counterpoint to the surrounding footage--precisely the role the blues played in the life of the black community. “Blues Highway” vividly illustrates how the music provided release from drudgery, hopelessness and worse. (A racially motivated murder is chillingly described by the victim’s brother.)

That the promise was broken once again in the big cities after a tantalizing spell of prosperity gives the story a downbeat conclusion. And sets up another chorus of the blues.

* “Blues Highway” airs at 6 p.m. Sunday as part of the “National Geographic Explorer” series on TBS.