There’s no better cure for the Monday blues than a good dose of soul and funk. Nobody knows that better than DJ Soul Sister, whose soulful takeover continues to take root around New Orleans.

In addition to her weekly Saturday night show on WWOZ and her standing gig at Mimi’s, DJ Soul Sister is now bringing the weekday funk with a Monday night film series called “Musically Speaking,” featuring music-themed feature films and documentaries at Café Istanbul.

Co-sponsored by the Charitable Film Network and Press Street, the films will be curated by DJ Soul Sister, who will also host the weekly screenings.
“It’s my new thing,” Soul Sister told NoDef, “music and film, and soulful culture and film.”

The idea, she said, is to go beyond the music in order to get people together. Many of the films will touch on social issues, exploring ideas that the music can’t always fully articulate.

“It’s just another excuse to get people together who are down for cultural events,” said Soul Sister. “Not just musical events, but really cool things that include the voice and the scope of people of color, and women, and alternative things.”

The first film of the series, Thunder Soul, shows former members from Houston's Kashmere High School Stage Band returning home to play a tribute concert for their beloved bandleader, Conrad Johnson, who turned the struggling jazz band into a world-class funk powerhouse in the early 1970s. The film’s depiction of the power of music and mentorship garnered Thunder Soul a 2011 NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Documentary. Following the screening, members of the original Kashmere High School Stage Band will be on hand for a Q&A.

The series will also feature That’s the Way of the World (8/13), the film that the infamous Earth Wind & Fire song was originally designed for. The band features prominently in this music industry tale directed by Sig Shore of Superfly fame.

Wild Style (8/20) is a showcase of old school hip-hop, featuring the MCs, b-boys and graffiti artists of the New York City scene including Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy the Rock Steady Crew and more.  

Down the Rhodes: The Fender Rhodes Story (8/27) tells the story of one of the most versatile insturments in modern music. The doc features interviews with Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, George Benson and D'Angelo, among others, to trace the Fender Rhodes from its jazz origins to the present. 

While Soul Sister says that most of the films deal with “soulful genres,” she says “it’s really going to run the gamut of music films that I like.” 

For now, the series is scheduled through August, but good turnouts might stretch the events through September and beyond. Soul Sister already has more films in mind, including some that focus on all-girl bands and the punk rock culture of the ‘70s and ‘80s. 

Admission to all films is free and screenings will take place at 7:00pm. Refreshments will also be served, and a cash bar is available. For more information or to rsvp, contact info@press-street.com or visit www.press-street.com/film.