Aloe Blacc On ‘America’s Musical Journey,’ The Estefans & Meeting Morgan Freeman [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Aloe Blacc, musician and host of the new 45-minute IMAX film America’s Musical Journey, takes viewers on a tour through the history of American music and what contributed to its success.

“America was the birthplace of so many kinds of music because our forefathers’ foresight in creating a Constitution that gave us freedom of expression, and it’s this expression that allows us to pour our hearts our and to celebrate,” Blacc told uInterview in an exclusive video interview. “We get to mix different forms of expression together and to celebrate with one another, and to compete with one another. I think it’s also the unique story of immigration to the U.S. as well, from the early settlers through the slave trade through the industrial age and people coming to this country for a better life. They brought with them culture and sound and all of these things come together in unique ways when young kids are learning and there are no rules, so they mix together cultural sounds from their parents and cultural sounds from their friends who have parents fro mother places.”

Blacc himself is an R&B musician, with his latest album being Lift Your Spirit: Higher. One of his most popular tracks is “I Need a Dollar,” which he co-wrote with Leon Michels, Nick Movshon and Jeff Dynamite for his 2010 album Good Things (Stones Throw).

“I had the chance to hang out with the Estefans in Miami, and I shared with them the song that I was writing called ‘My Story,’ and they helped me to develop a little bit of Latin flavor in a certain version of the song, which was pretty awesome,” he noted of his latest songwriting venture. I also got a chance to hang out with Dr. John and John Batiste in New Orleans, and those are two amazing musicians, great songwriters, and I got to experience the energy and the fun of the people in New Orleans.”

> uInterview’s Exclusive Video With Emily Estefan

Morgan Freeman, who often lends his voice to projects, narrates the IMAX film. “I got a chance to meet Morgan Freeman when we did our voice over in the studio and he is a wonderful human being,” Blacc described, before joking, “It’s great to have him on the film because his voice just makes everything sound so official, and it’s so calming as well. I was over the moon when I heard that he was gonna join the film.”

Blacc came away from the project with a sense of how the great American musicians changed as their successes mounted. “We talk about Louis Armstrong and his development in jazz, coming from New Orleans, being the son of slaves, overcoming that adversity and being an ambassador to the U.S., ultimately,” Blacc said of America’s Musical Journey. “And we talk about Elvis Presley and his upbringing, coming from a poor family and eventually buying a mansion with cash because he was the biggest rock and roll star of his day. Both are equally important and both have contributed so much amazing music to the landscape of American music and music for the entire world.”

Full interview transcript below:

Q: Why is America the birthplace of so many forms of music?

A: America was the birthplace of so many forms of music because of our four fathers foresight who gave us a constitution that gave us freedom of expression and it’s this expression that allows us to pour our hearts out and celebrate. We get to mix different forms of expression together, and to celebrate with one another and to compete with one another. I think it’s also the unique story of immigration to the US as well. To the early settlers, through the slave trade, to just the industrial age and people coming to this country to a better life. They brought with them culture and sound and all of these things come together in unique ways. When young kids are learning and there are no rules, so they mix together cultural sounds from their parents and cultural sounds from there friends who have parents from other places. That’s what i think has lead to the development of such unique styles of music in the US.

Q: Of the musicians you met, which stood out to you?

A: Well I had a chance to hang out with the Estefans in Miami and I shared with them a song that I was writing called My Story and they helped me to develop a little bit of a Latin flavor in a certain version of the song which was pretty awesome. I also got to hang out with Dr. John and John Batiste in New Orleans, and those are two amazing musicians, great songwriters, and I got to experience the energy and the fun of the people in New Orleans.

Q: Did you get a chance to work with Morgan Freeman?

A: I got a chance to meet Morgan Freeman when we were doing the voiceover in the studio and he is a wonderful human being. It’s great to have him on the film because his voice just makes everything sound so official and it’s so calming as well. I was over the moon when I heard that he was going to join the film.

Q: Which is the most influential musician on American sound?

A: Well you know, we talk about Louis Armstrong and his development in jazz, coming from New Orleans, being the son of slaves, overcoming adversity and being an ambassador to the US ultimately and we talk about Elvis Presely and his upbringing, coming from a poor family and eventually buying a mansion with cash because he was the biggest rock and roll star from his day. Both are equally important and both have contributed such amazing music to the landscape of American music to music for the entire world. Jazz has inspired people all across the world and so has rock music.