If they’re good, music documentaries can serve as a time machine — an immersive experience that transports the viewer back to the magic of another era, where the soundtrack envelops you, and an artist who has left this mortal coil returns for 90 minutes or so to validate their superstar status — a mic drop straight from the heavens. If the films are very good, they leave even hardcore fans learning a thing or two about their beloved icons. And if the films are very, very good, they completely upend public perception and, by extension, rewrite an artist’s legacy in a meaningful way.
Over the weekend, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues was named Best Music Documentary at the IDA Documentary Awards, and it’s also a contender in the race for Oscar gold, but the impact of the Apple TV+ film may very well stretch beyond awards season.
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