CHICAGO, IL. (Top40 Charts/
Maxwell Street Documentary) - Sundance will be "Electrified" on Friday January 25th at the world premiere of the blues documentary film Electrified - - The Story of the
Maxwell Street Urban Blues at Harry O's in Park City, Utah. The evening begins at 10:00 pm and features a screening of the film and a live performance by acclaimed blues guitarist
Kenny Wayne Shepherd and blues legend Hubert Sumlin. Actor Chevy Chase will be master of ceremonies.
During the intermission between the screening and the live performance, the film's executive producer Les Walgreen will present a limited-edition "Electrified" guitar donated by Fender to online auction house Charity Buzz for an auction (https://www.charitybuzz.com/area.do?id=165) to benefit The Center for Environmental Education Online (https://www.ceeonline.org).
Electrified tells the definitive history of the Chicago blues. Narrated by actor Joe Mantegna, the film chronicles how the urban neighborhood of Maxwell Street created a unique environment of commerce and cooperation that led first to the hard-driving sound of the urban blues, and ultimately to rock and roll.
Interviews with many of the legendary bluesmen who "studied at Chicago's Maxwell Street school of music," including Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmie Lee Robinson and the "father of rock and roll" Bo Diddley, complement the film's historical narrative and create an exceptional history of this important era in American music.
A companion film, Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street, documents the last days of the historic Maxwell Street market. It premiered to critical acclaim at the Chicago International Documentary Film Festival in April 2007, and is scheduled to be shown at the Amnesty International venue at Sundance January 18-20 and the Gene Siskel Film Center (https://www.artic.edu/webspaces/siskelfilmcenter/index.html) in Chicago on February 2.
Both Electrified and Cheat You Fair were written, directed and produced by longtime Chicago resident Phil Ranstrom who began the projects in 1994 shortly before the Maxwell Street market was demolished.
More information about the films is available at https://www.electrifiedthemovie.com and short clips also can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/maxwellstreetdoc
This event is not sanctioned, affiliated, or an official sponsor or program of the Sundance Film Festival.
