1 00:00:01,369 --> 00:00:08,376 ** 2 00:00:24,725 --> 00:00:25,959 Good evening. 3 00:00:25,993 --> 00:00:29,863 I'm Helen Mirren, and you're watching "Documentary Now!" 4 00:00:29,897 --> 00:00:31,031 season 52. 5 00:00:31,065 --> 00:00:33,967 When discussing jazz musician Rex Logan, 6 00:00:34,001 --> 00:00:37,138 the question most often asked is, 7 00:00:37,171 --> 00:00:39,173 "What could have been?" 8 00:00:39,207 --> 00:00:41,041 A man of immense talent, 9 00:00:41,075 --> 00:00:44,912 Rex spent his life trying to outrun his demons. 10 00:00:44,945 --> 00:00:48,149 In 1999, he stopped running long enough 11 00:00:48,182 --> 00:00:52,253 to be the subject of the now classic documentary, 12 00:00:52,286 --> 00:00:55,356 "Long Gone." 13 00:00:55,389 --> 00:01:00,261 * Long gone 14 00:01:00,294 --> 00:01:02,263 * A ring ar-- 15 00:01:02,296 --> 00:01:03,531 Is that the same? 16 00:01:03,564 --> 00:01:04,865 -Chromatical scale. -No? 17 00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:06,400 Well, it's chromatic the first time, 18 00:01:06,434 --> 00:01:10,204 and then the second time descending, it's whole steps. 19 00:01:10,238 --> 00:01:14,007 * Long gone 20 00:01:14,041 --> 00:01:16,910 [Guitar tuning] 21 00:01:16,944 --> 00:01:18,146 [Beeping] 22 00:01:18,179 --> 00:01:19,380 What is that? 23 00:01:19,413 --> 00:01:21,749 [Man speaks indistinctly] 24 00:01:21,782 --> 00:01:23,284 Can someone turn that off? 25 00:01:23,317 --> 00:01:24,385 [Feedback] 26 00:01:24,418 --> 00:01:25,386 Whoa. 27 00:01:25,419 --> 00:01:26,854 [Folk music playing] 28 00:01:26,887 --> 00:01:28,289 [Rhythmic clapping] 29 00:01:28,322 --> 00:01:35,329 ** 30 00:01:38,065 --> 00:01:41,034 Baxter: Everyone has a story about Rex Logan. 31 00:01:41,068 --> 00:01:46,140 I remember one time I saw him buy slugs at 3rd and B. 32 00:01:46,174 --> 00:01:48,309 He was parked outside in a big Cadillac, 33 00:01:48,342 --> 00:01:51,712 listening to Chick Corea, "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs," 34 00:01:51,745 --> 00:01:53,447 with Miroslav Vitous on bass. 35 00:01:53,481 --> 00:01:56,384 Now, he's playing it over and over, and he says to me, 36 00:01:56,417 --> 00:02:01,088 "Man, can you believe the notes these cats are playing?" 37 00:02:01,121 --> 00:02:05,193 Then he threw up, ruined my shoes. 38 00:02:05,226 --> 00:02:06,827 [Laughs] 39 00:02:09,497 --> 00:02:11,565 I would say it's to be happy. 40 00:02:13,734 --> 00:02:16,003 Woman: Are you happy? 41 00:02:16,036 --> 00:02:19,139 That's a mighty big question. 42 00:02:19,173 --> 00:02:22,343 Yes. I would say I'm happy. 43 00:02:29,583 --> 00:02:31,952 I don't know. You tell me. 44 00:02:38,726 --> 00:02:42,296 Man: Describe Rex Logan in three words. 45 00:02:58,011 --> 00:02:59,747 How did you meet Rex? 46 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,896 [Cheers and applause] 47 00:03:15,929 --> 00:03:18,332 [Jazz music playing] 48 00:03:18,366 --> 00:03:24,171 ** 49 00:03:24,204 --> 00:03:29,810 ** 50 00:03:29,843 --> 00:03:31,945 * Solar winds 51 00:03:31,979 --> 00:03:34,548 [Cheers and applause] 52 00:03:34,582 --> 00:03:38,886 * Solar winds 53 00:03:38,919 --> 00:03:40,821 Both: * Solar winds 54 00:03:40,854 --> 00:03:43,291 * From the depths of the nebulon * 55 00:03:43,324 --> 00:03:46,827 * Solar winds 56 00:03:52,165 --> 00:03:53,734 Rex, what's the difference 57 00:03:53,767 --> 00:03:55,536 between jazz and regular music? 58 00:03:55,569 --> 00:03:56,670 Well, Googy, I don't know 59 00:03:56,704 --> 00:03:57,971 what you mean by regular music. 60 00:03:58,005 --> 00:03:59,307 I don't think it exists. 61 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:01,141 Ah, come on, guy. You know what I mean. 62 00:04:01,174 --> 00:04:04,912 I suppose there's color and tone 63 00:04:04,945 --> 00:04:09,383 and feeling, various shapes. 64 00:04:09,417 --> 00:04:12,620 Uh, can somebody get the nu-u-u-rse? 65 00:04:12,653 --> 00:04:14,855 [Laughter] 66 00:04:14,888 --> 00:04:16,990 Meola: The first time I met Rex Logan, 67 00:04:17,024 --> 00:04:21,261 he was passed out facedown in a plate of spaghetti. 68 00:04:21,295 --> 00:04:26,867 It was a February night at some place down on Elizabeth Street. 69 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:28,636 I had come in with my girlfriend to get warm, 70 00:04:28,669 --> 00:04:33,341 and I looked over, and there he was. 71 00:04:33,374 --> 00:04:36,310 You know, I remember asking the waitress, "Is he dead?" 72 00:04:36,344 --> 00:04:40,348 And she pointed at the little bubbles in the sauce 73 00:04:40,381 --> 00:04:44,284 around his face, so we knew he was still breathing. 74 00:04:44,318 --> 00:04:47,521 Then she put one of those little bendy straws in his mouth 75 00:04:47,555 --> 00:04:54,161 for a snorkel, and I thought, "Watch yourself, Carla. 76 00:04:54,194 --> 00:04:56,897 I mean, there is something about this one." 77 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:02,269 [Speaking foreign language] 78 00:05:10,344 --> 00:05:12,480 [Laughter] 79 00:05:17,451 --> 00:05:19,620 Drugs. 80 00:05:19,653 --> 00:05:24,425 [Harmonica music playing] 81 00:05:24,458 --> 00:05:28,328 I've known Rexy since we were kids. 82 00:05:28,362 --> 00:05:33,266 We called him Little Rex or White Rex or the Flash 83 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:35,669 'cause he was quick with the ladies. 84 00:05:35,703 --> 00:05:39,440 When we were 16, maybe 17, 85 00:05:39,473 --> 00:05:43,511 we booked a weekend doing an early set at the Copa. 86 00:05:43,544 --> 00:05:47,581 I mean, this is the biggest gig any of us had ever seen, 87 00:05:47,615 --> 00:05:50,884 and Rex says, "You're gonna have to get a sub for me. 88 00:05:50,918 --> 00:05:53,687 I can't make it." 89 00:05:53,721 --> 00:05:56,156 I said, "All right." 90 00:05:56,189 --> 00:05:58,225 So we're playing that first night, 91 00:05:58,258 --> 00:06:01,395 and the next thing you know, Rex walks in with my mom. 92 00:06:01,429 --> 00:06:03,263 She's his date. 93 00:06:03,296 --> 00:06:05,566 Now, I didn't like that shit, you know? 94 00:06:05,599 --> 00:06:07,701 Can't be messing with my mom. 95 00:06:07,735 --> 00:06:09,537 But Rex liked to tease, you know, 96 00:06:09,570 --> 00:06:12,139 so I just let it go at first. 97 00:06:12,172 --> 00:06:14,708 But then, you know, he started making out with her, 98 00:06:14,742 --> 00:06:21,248 making real hard eye contact with me while he's kissing her. 99 00:06:21,281 --> 00:06:26,053 Well, you know, I'm about to knock his ass out when he says, 100 00:06:26,086 --> 00:06:31,792 "Come on, Julius. Can't you take a joke?" 101 00:06:31,825 --> 00:06:34,394 Well, it went on for another 2, 3 years, 102 00:06:34,428 --> 00:06:37,064 and luckily I can laugh about it now. 103 00:06:37,097 --> 00:06:39,199 No, I can't. No, I can't. 104 00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:43,070 That son of a bitch broke my mama's heart. 105 00:06:45,939 --> 00:06:52,513 ** 106 00:06:52,546 --> 00:06:59,553 ** 107 00:07:02,556 --> 00:07:09,563 ** 108 00:07:15,869 --> 00:07:22,876 ** 109 00:07:25,879 --> 00:07:32,753 ** 110 00:07:32,786 --> 00:07:34,454 Sorry. [Speaks native language] 111 00:07:34,488 --> 00:07:41,495 ** 112 00:07:44,498 --> 00:07:51,505 ** 113 00:07:54,508 --> 00:08:01,515 ** 114 00:08:02,883 --> 00:08:05,352 Hey. How you doing? How are you? 115 00:08:05,385 --> 00:08:11,491 ** 116 00:08:11,525 --> 00:08:14,227 Hey, Greg. Hey. What's going on? 117 00:08:18,632 --> 00:08:20,968 Hey, everybody. 118 00:08:21,001 --> 00:08:23,036 How you doing? 119 00:08:28,842 --> 00:08:35,716 ** 120 00:08:35,749 --> 00:08:38,886 [Bells tolling] 121 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:41,955 Downsworth: A day at long last which many people here 122 00:08:41,989 --> 00:08:43,691 thought they would never see. 123 00:08:43,724 --> 00:08:45,659 Independence for Sárdasovinia, 124 00:08:45,693 --> 00:08:48,896 the one-time Austro-Hungarian backwater 125 00:08:48,929 --> 00:08:51,098 long trapped behind the Iron Curtain, 126 00:08:51,131 --> 00:08:54,668 has never known self-governance until now, 127 00:08:54,702 --> 00:08:58,639 all thanks in no small part to one man, Csaba Mozsar, 128 00:08:58,672 --> 00:09:00,641 and the political opposition movement 129 00:09:00,674 --> 00:09:04,144 he leads and which he calls the Solar Revolution. 130 00:09:04,177 --> 00:09:07,280 One of Sárdasovinia's most powerful poets, 131 00:09:07,314 --> 00:09:09,917 now officially its most powerful man, 132 00:09:09,950 --> 00:09:14,287 the first elected president of a democratic Sárdasovinia. 133 00:09:14,321 --> 00:09:16,757 And while he's almost universally beloved 134 00:09:16,790 --> 00:09:17,958 by his countrymen, 135 00:09:17,991 --> 00:09:21,194 Mozsar cuts an idiosyncratic figure, 136 00:09:21,228 --> 00:09:23,430 known as much for his love of freedom 137 00:09:23,463 --> 00:09:27,134 as for his love of the boundary-pushing guitar jazz 138 00:09:27,167 --> 00:09:28,936 of Rex Logan. 139 00:09:28,969 --> 00:09:32,039 * Solar winds 140 00:09:41,114 --> 00:09:42,549 Sorry. I-I'm all right. 141 00:10:21,689 --> 00:10:23,924 Logan: Can I have someone find my lighter please? 142 00:10:23,957 --> 00:10:25,192 I'm always losing my lighter. 143 00:10:25,225 --> 00:10:28,428 It's got, um, Minnie Mouse on it. 144 00:10:30,030 --> 00:10:33,566 [Lighter clicks] 145 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:34,601 All right. 146 00:10:34,634 --> 00:10:37,037 Man: Is freedom important to you, Rex? 147 00:10:37,070 --> 00:10:39,106 Yeah, freedom is very important to me. 148 00:10:39,139 --> 00:10:43,844 It's, um, you know, personal liberty. 149 00:10:44,611 --> 00:10:50,918 Freedom, you know, it's -- it's sacrament to me. 150 00:10:50,951 --> 00:10:53,954 That's what I like about the Sárdasovinians is, 151 00:10:53,987 --> 00:10:55,588 they're very freethinkers. 152 00:10:55,622 --> 00:10:58,525 I met a lot of hip cats here. 153 00:10:58,558 --> 00:11:04,097 [Men singing in native language] 154 00:11:06,233 --> 00:11:08,201 [Speaking native language] 155 00:11:11,171 --> 00:11:13,140 [Applause] 156 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:22,783 All right. 157 00:11:28,421 --> 00:11:33,060 The story with that one is, uh, uh, 158 00:11:33,093 --> 00:11:35,295 I was really sick. 159 00:11:35,328 --> 00:11:36,897 So this girl, Danni, 160 00:11:36,930 --> 00:11:39,132 was supposed to score for me, 161 00:11:39,166 --> 00:11:42,702 and she got some bad scag or something, 162 00:11:42,736 --> 00:11:44,637 and she almost died. 163 00:11:44,671 --> 00:11:46,306 And they thought she was a corpse, 164 00:11:46,339 --> 00:11:51,144 but she didn't really die, per se, but... 165 00:11:55,315 --> 00:11:56,884 Uh-huh. 166 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,323 Oh, stellar... So that's pronounced stellar. 167 00:12:03,356 --> 00:12:05,458 I don't mean to correct you -- -Stellar. 168 00:12:05,492 --> 00:12:07,394 It's just that... Yeah, otherwise, 169 00:12:07,427 --> 00:12:10,263 it sounds like Steeler, like the football team. 170 00:12:14,401 --> 00:12:16,369 Are you just reciting my lyrics to me? 171 00:12:16,403 --> 00:12:18,806 Okay. Yes, that would be correct, yes. 172 00:12:18,839 --> 00:12:20,740 Oh. 173 00:12:20,774 --> 00:12:22,409 I would read your speeches back to you, 174 00:12:22,442 --> 00:12:24,444 but I don't know them. 175 00:12:26,613 --> 00:12:28,448 You look good. I like that. 176 00:12:28,481 --> 00:12:32,385 You know, I'm part Sárdasovinian on my mother's side. 177 00:12:32,419 --> 00:12:37,590 She's Cherokee and, um, Sárdasovinian. 178 00:12:37,624 --> 00:12:41,328 So that's why it feels like home to me here. 179 00:12:41,361 --> 00:12:43,363 You know, when I walk around in the streets, 180 00:12:43,396 --> 00:12:46,800 they feel familiar to me because, genetically, 181 00:12:46,834 --> 00:12:49,069 all the streets are in my brain. 182 00:12:49,569 --> 00:12:52,139 Man: Why did you go with Rex to Sárdasovinia? 183 00:12:52,172 --> 00:12:55,375 Uh, I was pregnant with Rexanne. 184 00:12:55,408 --> 00:12:58,145 I had stopped touring when we had Thad, 185 00:12:58,178 --> 00:12:59,479 but being pregnant, 186 00:12:59,512 --> 00:13:02,582 I just wasn't physically allowed to fly overseas. 187 00:13:02,615 --> 00:13:04,751 That did not stop Rex. 188 00:13:04,784 --> 00:13:08,388 Why do you think Rex decided to stay in Sárdasovinia? 189 00:13:09,689 --> 00:13:11,324 Rex was a typical artist, you know? 190 00:13:11,358 --> 00:13:15,929 I mean, he would leave, go on tour, but he always came back. 191 00:13:15,963 --> 00:13:19,632 And then eventually, he just stayed. 192 00:13:23,503 --> 00:13:25,305 One, two, three, four. 193 00:13:25,338 --> 00:13:32,345 ** 194 00:13:35,348 --> 00:13:42,355 ** 195 00:13:45,358 --> 00:13:51,098 ** 196 00:13:51,131 --> 00:13:56,870 ** 197 00:13:56,904 --> 00:14:00,073 [Scattered applause] 198 00:14:00,107 --> 00:14:01,441 Good show, you guys. 199 00:14:01,474 --> 00:14:02,976 I thought the tempos were all pretty good. 200 00:14:03,010 --> 00:14:07,247 Hey, Yatella, you can't play substitutions 201 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:08,882 underneath the solo, right? 202 00:14:08,916 --> 00:14:11,718 If I'm doing a solo, the whole thing goes out the window, 203 00:14:11,751 --> 00:14:13,220 right, 'cause then there's no root note. 204 00:14:13,253 --> 00:14:15,923 So all these people here, they're looking at me, like, 205 00:14:15,956 --> 00:14:18,191 they look like I'm making a mistake. 206 00:14:18,225 --> 00:14:22,495 You know why you did substitutions during a solo? 207 00:14:22,529 --> 00:14:23,596 No. You don't know why. 208 00:14:23,630 --> 00:14:25,032 You just felt like doing it. 209 00:14:25,065 --> 00:14:26,766 I mean, he knows the solo is coming, right? 210 00:14:26,799 --> 00:14:28,435 You know my solo is coming, right? 211 00:14:28,468 --> 00:14:30,637 So you know when to lay out, right? 212 00:14:30,670 --> 00:14:32,872 It's a disgrace, you know. 213 00:14:32,906 --> 00:14:35,408 And by the way, I don't give a shit. 214 00:14:38,011 --> 00:14:40,213 It's your gig. 215 00:14:40,247 --> 00:14:41,581 You know, I could care less. 216 00:14:41,614 --> 00:14:44,451 You want to go? 217 00:14:44,484 --> 00:14:47,054 Hey, uh, let's buy us one of those lemonades. 218 00:14:47,087 --> 00:14:48,355 I go, "That lemonade, 219 00:14:48,388 --> 00:14:50,357 if you don't want to put ice cubes in it, 220 00:14:50,390 --> 00:14:51,791 that's not lemonade." 221 00:14:51,824 --> 00:14:53,593 You know, if I could do things my own way, 222 00:14:53,626 --> 00:14:55,662 I'd just bring my own ice cubes, 223 00:14:55,695 --> 00:14:57,931 but they're hard to travel with. 224 00:14:57,965 --> 00:14:59,132 Mm-hmm. 225 00:14:59,166 --> 00:15:02,669 And why do you play guitar? 226 00:15:02,702 --> 00:15:04,171 -It's... -Why you choose that? 227 00:15:04,204 --> 00:15:06,239 It chose me. 228 00:15:06,273 --> 00:15:07,640 That's what happened. 229 00:15:07,674 --> 00:15:14,214 * I get along without you very well * 230 00:15:14,247 --> 00:15:16,516 * Of course I do 231 00:15:19,052 --> 00:15:22,589 * Except when soft rains fall * 232 00:15:22,622 --> 00:15:25,925 * And drip from leaves and I recall * 233 00:15:25,959 --> 00:15:32,099 * The thrill of being sheltered in your arms * 234 00:15:32,132 --> 00:15:36,703 * Of course I do 235 00:15:36,736 --> 00:15:41,141 * But I get along without you very well * 236 00:15:41,174 --> 00:15:46,413 ** 237 00:15:46,446 --> 00:15:53,453 ** 238 00:15:54,988 --> 00:15:58,825 * Except perhaps in spring 239 00:15:58,858 --> 00:16:02,729 * But I should never think of spring * 240 00:16:02,762 --> 00:16:09,769 * For that would surely break my heart in two * 241 00:16:12,372 --> 00:16:18,778 ** 242 00:16:18,811 --> 00:16:22,749 What do you want me to say? Do I want him to see his kids? 243 00:16:22,782 --> 00:16:26,186 Yes, of course I do, but from what I hear, 244 00:16:26,219 --> 00:16:28,055 he can't come back here even if he wants to. 245 00:16:28,088 --> 00:16:31,358 I mean, legally, it's a lot more complicated than that, right? 246 00:16:31,391 --> 00:16:33,526 [Jail door clicking] 247 00:16:34,561 --> 00:16:36,763 * Solar winds 248 00:16:36,796 --> 00:16:40,567 * From the depths of the nebulon * 249 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,535 * Solar winds 250 00:16:42,569 --> 00:16:44,204 [Speaking foreign language] 251 00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:13,200 Man: Did Rex Logan know about the alleged atrocities 252 00:17:13,233 --> 00:17:15,235 being committed by your government? 253 00:17:34,754 --> 00:17:36,589 This is the last song of the night. 254 00:17:36,623 --> 00:17:37,824 Uh, thank you for coming, 255 00:17:37,857 --> 00:17:40,860 and, uh, it's a favorite of mine. 256 00:17:40,893 --> 00:17:44,464 Uh, it's a little slower, and, uh, you're really not 257 00:17:44,497 --> 00:17:45,932 the right kind of audience for this, 258 00:17:45,965 --> 00:17:50,703 but, uh, well, I got limited options right now, so... 259 00:17:51,871 --> 00:17:57,310 Uh, anyway, one, two, three, four. 260 00:17:57,344 --> 00:18:00,347 ** 261 00:18:04,451 --> 00:18:07,454 ** 262 00:18:11,491 --> 00:18:15,462 * Long gone 263 00:18:15,495 --> 00:18:22,502 * The ring upon your finger and the rose * 264 00:18:26,306 --> 00:18:29,542 * Long gone 265 00:18:30,143 --> 00:18:36,115 * The way we used to hold each other close * 266 00:18:40,953 --> 00:18:44,691 * I could call or send a cable * 267 00:18:44,724 --> 00:18:48,228 * But I just don't think I'm able * 268 00:18:48,261 --> 00:18:55,001 * All the drinks upon the table are long gone * 269 00:18:55,034 --> 00:18:56,936 Boy: I know that he can't leave Sárdas 270 00:18:56,969 --> 00:19:00,006 and that he can't talk about why. 271 00:19:00,039 --> 00:19:03,543 I know that Mr. Logan was an agent of the American CIA 272 00:19:03,576 --> 00:19:07,480 and that, now that his mission has been terminated, 273 00:19:07,514 --> 00:19:09,316 he must remain in hiding. 274 00:19:09,349 --> 00:19:13,653 If he makes any attempt to return to the U.S., 275 00:19:13,686 --> 00:19:15,021 they will hurt his family. 276 00:19:15,054 --> 00:19:17,557 Man: What do you know about the Mozsar government? 277 00:19:18,358 --> 00:19:21,961 [Sighs] I only know about jazz, man. 278 00:19:35,475 --> 00:19:42,482 * Long gone 279 00:19:43,049 --> 00:19:46,253 Thanks. Thank you. 280 00:19:46,286 --> 00:19:47,987 Man: Do you miss him? 281 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:49,689 [Laughs] 282 00:19:49,722 --> 00:19:53,726 Man, I don't know how to answer that. 283 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,596 I do, and I don't, you know? 284 00:19:56,629 --> 00:19:58,097 People always saying, 285 00:19:58,130 --> 00:20:01,634 "Isn't it sad what happened to Rex?" 286 00:20:01,668 --> 00:20:05,405 We all thought he'd be dead by now. 287 00:20:05,438 --> 00:20:06,939 How bad can it be? 288 00:20:06,973 --> 00:20:09,276 One more question, Rex -- When you look back on this, 289 00:20:09,309 --> 00:20:11,611 do you think the experience of making this film 290 00:20:11,644 --> 00:20:13,613 will make you happy? 291 00:20:13,646 --> 00:20:15,615 Yeah. 292 00:20:15,648 --> 00:20:19,051 Of course it'll make me happy. 293 00:20:19,085 --> 00:20:23,823 Walking around Byog, and you filming me 294 00:20:23,856 --> 00:20:27,159 and making me play the guitar 295 00:20:27,193 --> 00:20:31,664 and talk to people I didn't know, perfect. 296 00:20:31,698 --> 00:20:34,801 Those beautiful ladies you hired... 297 00:20:36,836 --> 00:20:41,608 ...and filmed it with the camera, 298 00:20:41,641 --> 00:20:43,976 genius. 299 00:20:44,010 --> 00:20:45,144 Let me tell you something, Robert, 300 00:20:45,177 --> 00:20:48,047 you're a beautiful filmmaker. 301 00:20:49,282 --> 00:20:56,289 ** 302 00:20:57,824 --> 00:21:04,831 ** 303 00:21:07,834 --> 00:21:14,841 ** 304 00:21:17,844 --> 00:21:24,851 ** 305 00:21:27,854 --> 00:21:32,959 **