The Priceless History of an Ageless Alberta Hunter

ALBERTA HUNTER “My Castle’s Rockin’ ”

View/Video ($29.95) * * * *

This is history. Seldom has so much material by and about an artist been crammed into a single hour. The basic footage stems from Alberta Hunter’s legendary comeback in 1977, when at age 82--and after 20 years in obscurity working as a nurse--she returned to singing, primarily at the Cookery nightclub in New York, where this video’s performance tracks were filmed.

Hunter’s interpretations reveal that her personality remained undimmed by time. She offers some classics and some of her own tunes, such as her best-known work, “Downhearted Blues,” a piquant delight that became a hit for Bessie Smith.

Between songs, the story of her life unfolds: her birth in 1895, her professional debut in 1912, the moves to Chicago, Harlem, France, then London, where she sang opposite Paul Robeson in “Show Boat.” A final scene was shot in her New York apartment in 1984, six months before her death at 89.

Like Hunter, the other participants--Barney Josephson, who ran the Cookery, and John Hammond, who produced Hunter’s last records--are gone now. This video, produced and directed by Stuart Goldman, narrated by Billy Taylor, is a priceless document.