On the evening of March 6, 2013, I did something I haven’t done in almost a decade. I went to the movies. I did something else I hadn’t done in just about as long. I had popcorn and a soda. I did however do something that I do every single day. I had a marvelous time listening to some great music.

What got me away from my private listening station (my home) was the world premiere of a film entitled, Time Brings About a Change...A Floyd Dixon Celebration.  The evening was a celebration indeed.

I suppose it was like any other movie premiere in that the cast and crew were all there to welcome their creative gift into the world. This wasn’t Hollywood by any stretch of the imagination. It was Anaheim. Those two communities may be less than fifty miles apart, but for any other practical purposes they might as well be on different planets. So the atmosphere at this premier wasn’t about black tie as much as it was about black music. It wasn’t about who are you wearing as much as it was about what we were hearing. This wasn’t about a red carpet. It was about blues music.

Many of the musicians who participated in the film were in attendance including pianist Fred Kaplan, bassist Larry Taylor and drummer Richard Innes. Singer Johnny Tucker and trumpeter Joe Banks were there as well. The horn section of Steve Mash on tenor and Troy Jennings on baritone sax attended and vocalist and harmonica player Lynwood Slim was on hand. One of the film’s most important participants, the film’s musical director, guitarist, Kid Ramos shared the movie premiere experience with his family and friends, many of which he assembled to make the core band whose playing is one of the highlights of this film. 

The film’s director, Phillip Cruess and its producer, his wife Lissette Cruess, seemed justifiably proud of their film. The evening’s master of ceremonies and the person who is most singularly responsible for the celebration concert, subsequent CD, and now film, is the founder and president of High John Records, Robert “Big Bob” Auerbach. Bob told me he was just very happy he could do this for Floyd.

The film chronicles the last major concert performance by one of the great blues men in the post war era. Dixon was an extremely important figure in this music. He excelled as a pianist and songwriter as well as a singer.

The concert, which is the centerpiece of the film, took place over two days on June 1^st and 2^nd, 2006 at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, Arizona. Just fifty five days after this performance, Dixon died of cancer.

The film is comprised primarily of concert footage, along with interview segments and commentary from the musicians who played in the concert. The interviewers include, Rhythm Room owner and blues musician Bob Corritore, the editor of Living Blues Magazine, Brett J. Bonner and blues musician and celebration concert participant, Kim Wilson.

The concert also included piano legends Henry Gray and Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins. The musicians who participated in the celebration in Phoenix made very insightful commentary. Their words were skillfully interwoven with the footage from the concert.  Ramos in particular came across as warm, thoughtful and engaging.  

The star of the show was, of course, Dixon who exuded humility in his interview segments which stood in stark relief to his much deserved nickname, Mr. Magnificent. On stage at the age of 77 and in failing health he still showed some of the youthful exuberance that ignited bandstands and super charged big dance halls in the glorious golden age of the rhythm and blues era some sixty years earlier.

As the film unfolded at the premier in Anaheim, the audience reacted as if they were actually in that steaming hot nightclub in Phoenix back in June of 2006. Every introduction or appearance by a performer was met with applause. Every solo concluded with the audience shouting and stomping its approval.  The only thing that was missing was seeing the smile on Floyd Dixon’s face that would have surely lit up even a darkened theatre like a beacon of joy his music personified.

- David Mac

Note: The film will be showing at the 22^nd Annual Arizona Film Festival on April 20, 2013, in Tucson.  It is available through High John Records whose link can be found on the links page of this site. The DVD includes the entire theatrical release screened in Anaheim last month as well as a two disc set featuring the entire Rhythm Room uncut footage of the concert itself. The seventeen track CD taken from these performances can also be found on the High John Records website.  .