Moonshine: Moonshine and blues are tied together in my memory: Morgan Freeman

Before the interview begins, Morgan Freeman starts talking about Ravi Shankar. ‘He played with The Beatles, and The Beatles were greatly influenced by the blues. Look at how it ties up,’ he says. It’s an apt prelude. For the Oscar-winning actor and lifelong son of Mississippi, the blues is a living history carried through cultures, an idea at the heart of Symphonic Blues Experience, which blends the genre’s 100-year journey with the grandeur of a symphony orchestra and collaborators from Memphis to Mumbai. Talking to Mohua Das, Freeman, 89, reflects on why preserving its legacy matters as much as finding new audiencesWhy did you feel a symphonic album, rather than a documentary or a film, was the right medium to tell the blues story? The blues grew out of misery. The original concept of rhythm, I think, was the work hollers in the fields. It was always rooted in that hum that is in Africa. And expressing your pain, you call on Jesus. If you’re not calling on Jesus, you’re just complaining and complaining. That’s the bottom line of the blues. Film, of course, goes everywhere. It travels. Music carries a message.One of the producers on this album is a Mumbai-based trio — VG Jairam, VG Jaishankar and Neale Murray — who have spent years building one of Asia’s biggest blues communities. How did that collaboration come about? The concept of a crossover has been done in a variety of ways. I’d seen a hip-hop band from Australia do something similar with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, so I thought, “Let’s give this a shot.” It had never been done at this scale. We felt it would allow us to reach new audiences and allow symphony audiences to experience blues music. We prototyped it in Savannah, Dublin and Salzburg, and the response was tremendous. We then brought it to North America, where we’ve now performed 25 shows. After the first season, we decided to produce an album. Through our partner’s relationship with the Indian team, the collaboration happened almost organically. They brought authenticity and years of experience through their Blues Festival, so it was a natural partnership. We couldn’t be happier.You visited India in search of faith and spirituality back in 2015. Is there a moment from that journey that has remained with you?I can think of many, but I think the most impressive was being on the Ganges at night in Varanasi. You read about it, you see it in movies, but to actually be in the middle of an event like that (Ganga aarti)…I’ll never forget it.The challenge with any reinterpretation is bringing something new while honouring what came before. What does a symphony orchestra allow the blues to express without polishing its rough edges?I think it brings gravitas. The arrangements have to preserve the rawness of the blues while adding impact. All the credit goes to Martin Gellner for the arrangements and producers like Boo Mitchell for finding that perfect blend. Ultimately, you have to experience it. Audiences have felt we’ve succeeded in adding that scale. Combine that with cinematic narration and video storytelling for every song, and it becomes a blend of entertainment and education.Your voice is almost an instrument in itself. When you’re narrating rather than acting, what changes? Is there something you’ve learnt about the power of a voice to move people?It’s something I’m still learning. As an actor, years ago, I became interested in what makes a voice a voice. I grew up watching movies, so there were voices that certainly had an impact on me. But I don’t think I’ve ever consciously thought about that while I was working.Was there ever a part of you that wished you’d been a musician? Did you ever play or sing?Well, I was a musician. I was in the high school band. I could read music. But I grew up wanting to be an actor. However, singing with Al Green on stage (on New Year’s Eve at Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale), oh, my… that was epic. Your life has moments. Mine has many. And that was one of them. I’d driven around the country singing along with Al Green…and Frank Sinatra.You say you first heard the blues on your grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta. What are your earliest memories of connecting with it?I was only four or five years old, but do you know what moonshine is? I’m talking about the liquor. Moonshine and the blues are tied together in my childhood memory because those guys needed a little nip before they started singing, just to get into the mood. They didn’t give me moonshine, but I had a couple of young uncles who sometimes babysat me, and to keep me quiet they’d give me about a teaspoon of whisky (laughs). That’s just an early childhood image.You established the Ground Zero Blues Club 25 years ago. What future do you see for the blues?Some years ago, my then business partner, who’s since passed away, and I were in Clarksdale working on a building where we were going to open a restaurant. Across the street we saw a couple of backpackers—white kids. Bill asked them what they were looking for. They said, ‘Where can we hear the blues?’ They were standing in the Mississippi Delta asking where they could hear the blues. And we couldn’t give them an answer. There wasn’t one. That was the inception of Ground Zero. About the future of the genre, I don’t have the answer. I’m just watching it happen.You’ve lived many lives—actor, pilot, sailor, narrator, restaurateur—and now you’re helping preserve one of America’s great musical traditions. At this stage of your life, what still excites you enough to say, ‘This is what I want to do next’?It sounds defeating to say no, there isn’t. But no, there isn’t. I have no more exciting dreams except to live the life I’m living, which is pretty good.You’ve been producing projects recovering overlooked histories—from the blues to the ‘761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers’ to ‘The Gray House’. Are there stories you think cinema still hasn’t told?Yes, ma’am, there are. Being a big fan of movies, I’ve seen just about every film ever made about war, particularly World War II. And I noticed an absence of me. So, I’ve always wanted to correct that mistake. I’m still working on it.