Documentary Film: Milford Graves Full Mantis
“Stunning. This movie gives you, well, the man’s heart, and it’s a beautiful one.” –The New York Times
“One of the best jazz documentaries ever assembled… a singular viewing experience.” – Byron Coley, The Wire : Adventures In Modern Music
In making a documentary portrait of a genius like percussionist Milford Graves, a giant of experimental free-jazz, filmmaker Jake Meginsky couldn’t very well go the usual stodgy talking heads route. Instead he matches interviews with Graves, a charismatic polymath and tireless worker residing in Queens and still bubbling over at seventy-six with disparate enthusiasms including Chinese medicine, martial arts, and biorhythm-based beats, to an appropriately idiosyncratic editing cadence which includes some truly astonishing archival footage. A rare music doc that lays down its own unpredictable beat.
Words and music by Milford Graves. Directed by Jake Meginsky. Co-directed by Neil Young. 2018. 91 min.