Linda and the Mockingbirds

Just watched this doc on iTunes. Lovely piece of filmmaking! The movie was heartfelt and honest in its depiction of music and dance as a means of building self-worth and sharing ones story of struggle and, ultimately, triumph.

And the music... just wow!

It is easy to understand why Linda Rondstadt has had a special relationship with the school and the musical group (Los Cenzontles) for three-plus decades. Watching LATM we are reminded, and we desperately need to be reminded, that America draws its strength from its cultural diversity.

In these dark times, this movie was like a gift from heaven, a reminder that there are still stories out there that lift us up and inspire us. Bravo!

Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne join Eugene Rodriguez and Los Cenzontles (the mockingbirds) on a bus trip to perform in Linda's grandfather's home town, Banamichi, Mexico. Los Cenzontles is a group of young Mexican - American musicians who uphold and transmit the authentic, traditional music of Ronstadt's childhood.

This is a beautiful, hopeful, thoughtful, important film about equity, transmission of culture through the arts, and insight into what it means to be an immigrant in the US today. Without being dogmatic, negative, or overtly political, producer/director James Keach opens the door for us to hear firsthand experiences from Mexican-American immigrants. In addition to hearing their amazing music, we see and feel their dignity, traditions, smiles and tears.

I am a Linda Ronstadt fan. I have been since she was featured singer with the Stone Poneys. She was blessed with a sublime voice and she learned how to use it. For all kinds of musical genres. But I had a sort of negative view of her personally through the 1970s and beyond, influenced by the media who by their nature try to point out deficiencies in high-profile performers. Her drug use, her relationships, etc.

But as she aged, and as she developed the malady that doesn't allow her to sing anymore, and as I learned more and more who Linda Ronstadt really is, I hold her in the highest esteem. She is intelligent and straightforward. She is who she is. She shows no self-pity, she goes forward and does what she is capable of, and that is influencing the next generations of musicians, and as this documentary focuses, on Mexican music which is such an indelible part of her own background.

This is a wonderful documentary, I found it on U-tube.