PBS Adds Web Component to 'Blues' Series

Date: 24 Jul 2003 02:11:12 -0700
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.blues-l
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PBS Adds Web Component to 'Blues' Series
Fri Jul 18, 3:50 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters TV to My Yahoo!
By Chris Marlowe
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - PBS is ramping up an ambitious online
component for "The Blues," the network's seven-part series examining how
the musical genre "evolved from parochial folk tunes to a universal
language."
According to the network, the series, executive produced by Martin Scorsese
(news), is only the anchor for a whole multimedia and multiplatform project
about the blues.
The series consists of seven films, each the personal creation of a
renowned director: Charles Burnett, Clint Eastwood (news), Mike Figgis
(news), Marc Levin, Richard Pearce, Scorsese and Wim Wenders (news).
Visitors to www.pbs.org/theblues will be able to preview video clips, read
director and producer biographies, learn more details about the film series
and check the local broadcast times once it launches Aug. 14. The series
begins Sept. 28.
A showpiece of the site will be an interactive map that guides viewers
through the evolution of the blues and the career highlights of such key
artists as Robert Johnson, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters and John
Lee Hooker. Audio clips, biographies, discographies, and more, including
downloadable learning aids (news - web sites), will enhance the online
experience.
Besides the broadcast and the Web site, "The Blues" project includes a
13-part public radio series; materials for teachers of English, social
studies and music; "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey,"
a book published by HarperCollins; several special CD releases from Sony
Music and Universal Music Enterprises; and concerts, exhibitions and other
events.
P.W. Fenton
New Port Richey, FL
http://bluesland.net
Dick Waterman's Blues Photo T-Shirts http://p-dub.com/Jinx/
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