"The culture of storytelling through music is incredibly fascinating and appealing to me. The blues have great emotional resonance and are the foundation for American popular music."  Martin Scorsese

Under the guiding vision of Executive Producer Martin Scorsese, seven directors explore the blues through their own personal styles and perspectives. The films in the series are motivated by a central theme: how the blues evolved from parochial folk tunes to a universal language.

The series begins with the journey from Africa to the Mississippi Delta — where the music grew from slaves' field hollers, work songs and spirituals — then travels up the Mississippi River to the juke joints, house parties and recording studios of Memphis and Chicago, and culminates with the emotional embrace of this African-American creation by musicians and people throughout the world.

The Blues is the culmination of a great ambition for Scorsese — to honor the music he loves, to preserve its legacy and to work closely with talented feature film directors united in their desire to celebrate this art.