Review: Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’

Far too often concert films depict performances as just an insular moment in time. While Jazz on A Summer’s Day, one of the greatest of its style, excels at sharing the music and personalities which made the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival so memorable, it did not fully contextualize the proceedings and its societal importance. In part, this is because of the proximity in time of the release to the date of the event. It would have been difficult for Bert Stern to provide a lasting commentary on the era as he was living in it. But the extraction of performances from their times is also somewhat explainable by directorial choices. Most filmmakers lack the personal connection to the songs presented that a musician would provide. These differences – historical hindsight and a musician-director – set Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Searchlight Pictures, 2021) apart.

Aside from the moon landing, most associate the summer of 1969 with Woodstock. To a large degree, the Bethel, New York event has overshadowed other significant festivals that summer, including the Newport Jazz Festival’s experiment with rock and the Harlem Cultural Festival. Taking place at Mount Morris Park – now Marcus Garvey Park – over six weekends, the Harlem Cultural Festival showcased a wide variety of Black artists running the gamut from gospel to the blues to pop. The music is top-notch, with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Sonny Sharrock to Nina Simone making an appearance. But despite the high caliber of artistry, it wasn’t Woodstock. Historians largely forgot the event. Though videotaped, the recording disappeared for nearly half a century. As shown in Summer of Soul, even some of the audience members felt like they imagined the Festival. There were even efforts to get people to remember the event as “the Black Woodstock,” but they were for naught. It wasn’t Woodstock. Almost no one cared.

But, as the film shows, the fact the Harlem Cultural Festival was not Woodstock is what made it special. While the Bethel, New York event has taken on legendary status in some circles, it primarily represents a collection of young people engaging in drugs, sex, and other hedonistic acts as artists perform. The music – though excellent – was, to some degree, secondary to emphasizing a life that rejected what was viewed as the monotonous norm. One should not forget that an overwhelming majority of Woodstock attendees were white and mostly middle or upper-middle-class. The impetus for the Harlem Cultural Festival was something else and far more serious; racial injustice. The 1960s brought continued injustices, including the assassinations of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But the Black community persevered, in large part due to music’s power as an organizational imperative instead of some purely pleasurable activity. To quote Gladys Knight, “[i]t wasn’t just about the music; we wanted progress.”

Director Amir “Questlove” Thompson’s bona fides lie in his hip-hop connections, a form of music that relies on sampling and mixing thoughts to produce a story. His ties to the jazz community and training in that idiom also underscore his ability to rearrange concepts to further storytelling. With this background, it is unsurprising that Summer of Soul does not follow a strictly chronological narrative. Performances from each of the weekends are placed side by side throughout the film to better accent particular contextual features of the Festival. The choice to mix and match such clips is inspired.

One focus is the importance of the passage of tradition and remembering history. Jesse Jackson appears backed by saxophonist Ben Branch. The two men were among the last to be with Dr. King before his death and together reminded the audience of the great work the Reverend had done for equality. But they mention King not to get listeners to become mired in the past, but rather to get them to remember where they came from and to build from it. This is further shown when Mahalia Jackson sings Dr. King’s favorite song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” While the Queen of Gospel could easily have chosen to keep the moment to herself. Instead, she chose to share it with Mavis Staples. In so doing, she not only gave Staples “the time of [her] life” but also emphasized the significance of sharing your stories and gifts with the next generation to keep the legacy alive. 

Somewhat relatedly, the film also zeroes in on the role of faith and the Black church. This first emerges from The Edwin Harkins Singers’ performance of “Oh Happy Day.” Vested in long green gowns and suits, the group presented music that promised a better time and place than the chaos of the era. Ironically, church leaders opposed the group performing publicly, but the band saw it as essential for spreading their ministry to others in a relatable way. Pops Staples and the Staple Singers and Professor Herman Stevens and the Stevens Singers show how this heritage underlies various musical styles and, to some degree, even connects back to African cultures. The film even discusses Sly and the Family Stone with a view towards Sly Stone’s evangelical origins. 

Another common thread is the importance of community. Though many in the media looked down on the area, the film shows that many residents believed, as one attendee put it, that  “Harlem was heaven.” Yes, it had some problems, but most people were happy and safe there. And it was a hotbed for incredible cultural innovations. This wasn’t the more privileged life many hippies were bristling against, and it shows in the shots of the audience. There are no naked people covered in mud or people overdosed on drugs. Rather, we see families congregated, children danced, and people of all ages united. One particularly notable scene is a young girl in pink dancing to Herbie Mann as an appreciative crowd surrounds her. And people took pride in their appearance, often looking “like royalty.” As one commentator states, it was like “the ultimate Black barbecue.” 

Summer of Soul is a powerful reflection on both what came before and where we are now. It is a subtle commentary on the racism which continues to permeate society. The fact historians would prefer to remember a hedonistic mob on a cow pasture in the middle of upstate New York than an extensive Black event that emphasized such commendable values as tradition, faith, and community speaks volumes. Throughout, however, the film shows an event that was “like a rose coming through concrete.” Let the garden bloom.

Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will be available in theaters and for streaming on Hulu on July 2, 2021. More information can be found on the film’s website.