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July 3 - July 10, 2011 |
Rita Chiarelli rocks the big house
Acclaimed documentary film boosts career of blues veteran
By Kerry Doole
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Blues performer Rita Chiarelli
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Powerhouse blues singer/songwriter Rita Chiarelli may accurately be described as a music veteran, but 2011 has already shaped up as one of her best and busiest yet. It started off in fine fashion in January when she received the prestigious Blues With A Feeling award (for lifetime achievement) at The Maple Blues Awards. Derek Andrews, President of The Toronto Blues Society, calls Chiarelli “a pillar of the Canadian blues community. She has inspired many women to follow her in the blues, she has pushed the creative envelope beyond blues, and she has won over audiences worldwide with the power of her voice.” In typically determined manner, Chiarelli’s response to the award was “I ain’t done yet.”
The Hamilton-raised, Toronto-based artist is proving just that. A few months back, her documentary film Music From The Big House was released, and both the film and its soundtrack album have been earning rave reviews here and internationally. We sat down for coffee and a chat with Chiarelli recently, and she was enthusiastic about the response. “The movie has been gaining momentum like crazy,” she says.
Music From The Big House is a powerful and ultimately uplifting film focused upon Chiarelli’s experiences in the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary, America’s largest maximum security prison. “I went on something of a blues pilgrimage down Highway 61 about 10 years ago,” she recalls. “I went to places like Muddy Waters’ old cabin, and the hospital where Bessie Smith died. In my research I came across Angola, and recordings of some of the women once there. “
The curious Chiarelli was given a tour of Angola, which planted the seeds for Music From The Big House. “ I met the Warden and told him ‘one day I might do a concert here.’ I couldn’t get it out of my mind. After a couple of years I went back down and asked to meet some of the musical inmates. That was an epiphany. I heard them perform, and I knew then that I should really do a concert with them. It wasn’t me and them, it was us.” The prisoners may have been initially skeptical about the motives of an Italian-Canadian female musician, but Chiarelli’s big and open-hearted personality soon won them over. The film shows Chiarelli interacting closely with the inmates, in styles ranging from blues to country to soul and gospel.
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