The Bigger Picture: Exploring the history of music in Jim Crow-era Houston though the movie ‘Sinners’ – Houston Public Media

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Inspired by the Deep South setting of Ryan Coogler’s latest film, we look back on the history of popular music through the lens of Houston’s Black community in the early 20th century.
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Music, sin, and vampires clash in Ryan Coogler’s new film Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as two twins who return to their Mississippi home town in the early 1930s and find themselves in for a long night as they open their own juke joint for the local Black community.
Of course, not all goes according to plan, and when vampires show up to crash the party, the brothers and their companions must fend for themselves as they await the saving grace of dawn.

Music is a crucial element in not just establishing the film’s setting, but it also plays a pivotal role in the story as young blues guitarist Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) wrestles with whether or not to pursue his musical dreams against the wishes of his preacher father — all while evading the bloodthirsty threat outside the doors.
In this month’s edition of The Bigger Picture, where Houston Matters explores social and cultural topics in film, we look back on how Houston’s Black community celebrated music in the early 1900s and the genres that developed from music halls back in the day.
Producer Joshua Zinn talks with Cary Darling, arts and entertainment editor for the Houston Chronicle, and DJ Flash Gordon Parks, a local ethnomusicologist and performer.
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