Of course he’s known as the acclaimed, award-winning
director of such classics as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino,
as well as for the music that populates his feature films, but Martin
Scorsese’s love of music goes past well-chosen cues and directing Michael
Jackson videos (“Bad”).
Starting with his Assistant Director gig on Woodstock [1970]
Scorsese’s musical exploits on the big screen have been overlooked, for the most
part, in comparison to his feature film bread and butter. Aside
from The Last Waltz [1978], which uncharacteristically captures an artist—in this case, The Band—not at the beginning of
their career or, more commonly, at their apex but, as the name implies, during
their send-off, Scorsese has been almost as busy directing musical endeavors in the 21s century as he's been making features during the same time frame: he was one of the directors involved in The Concert for New York City
[2001]; directed the Delta blues-dedicated segment "Feel Like Going Home" for the
PBS miniseries The Blues [2003]; helmed the Bob Dylan documentary No Direction
Home [2005]; shot Shine A Light [2008], The Rolling Stones’ 2006 performance at
NYC’s Beacon Theatre (which Mick Jagger jokingly refers to as “the only
Scorsese film that "Gimme Shelter" isn’t played in."); and directed George Harrison: Living in the Material World [2011] a doc based on the life of
the late Beatle.
It would be nice if Mr. S tackled a more contemporary
subject the next time he’s bitten by the music bug—Beck, Radiohead, Jack White, maybe?—but
the above additions to his staggering resumé are quite impressive just the same.
