Busting with footage left in legal limbo for over three decades, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte’s documentary is uproarious and uplifting.
A worthy companion piece to When We Were Kings (which Levy-Hinte edited), Soul Power chronicles the three day Zaire ’74 concert that accompanied Mohammad Ali’s ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ clash with George Foreman.
With American acts The Spinners, BB King and, naturally, James Brown all “going home” to perform alongside their African kinsmen, the playlist is fiercely diverse and stirring.
But off-stage antics are equally riveting, with Ali’s ring-bound tussle with a Spinner and a plane-set jam session but two highlights.
