Buddy Guy’s screen time in ‘Sinners’ is brief, but his legacy runs deep

A cold night with temps plunging below zero in Chicago can’t stop Buddy Guy. A standing-room-only crowd packed into his Legends club on a frigid January night, waiting in anticipation for not just the master of the blues, but the genre's protector and champion.

“I’m a lucky guy, because I got a chance to play with all of them [the blues legends] before they passed away, and they told me, ‘Buddy if you can do me a favor, just keep the blues alive,’ and that’s all I’m trying to do,” he told the crowd.

When Guy finally took the stage, silence fell over the audience. The next sound was not a musical note, but Guy being the color commentator of his own performance. He proceeded to weave in and out of musical master to master storyteller.

“I know y’all don’t want me to talk but I like to explain some s--- that I’ve experienced by being a guitar player well enough to be invited around the world,” he said.

Guy opened with “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues,” hitting those chords like a pro and throwing in a few pelvic thrusts to remind us he’s still got it. From “Nine Below Zero” and the jazz-pop tune “Fever” to his original song “Skin Deep,” Guy was in top form.

It's his approach to the blues that fills a room. Writer and director Ryan Coogler uses that to anchor the film “Sinners” and pay tribute to the music as well as the culture. The film, which has garnered a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, displays the journey of a young man in the South navigating all the obstacles life threw at him and just trying to survive it all. That’s a story very similar to Guy’s.

When asked about the parallels, Guy said, “Well, not only me, I think that happened to all of the blues players,” adding how the juke joint in the film was a true representation of the nightlife he experienced. “We learned from those great guys who just played for Saturday night fish fries — that was good enjoyment after picking and chopping cotton.”

Born in 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, he moved to Chicago in the late 1950s, won a contract and after early struggles became one of the most sought-after studio musicians.

“When they needed somebody, if they couldn't get B.B. King and needed some B.B. King lick, he was the guy they called,” bandmate Orlando Wright said.

Guy takes keeping the blues alive very seriously and continues to introduce the music to a new generation. He saw a resurgence in the 1980s and early 1990s, and has won several Grammys, including one this year for traditional blues album for “Ain't Done with the Blues.”

That staying power is one of the reasons Coogler wanted Guy in his movie, and he personally visited Legends to ask him to join the film. “Buddy Guy was the last musician I remember my uncle James making an effort to go see live even at the end of his life. He meant a lot to me 'cause he meant so much to my uncle so it was an honor to have him in the film,” Coogler told the Sun-Times.

In the movie, the blues was a connector and somewhat of a superpower, with Guy serving as a bridge as well as a beacon. The cast all credit him with being the glue and the master. Delroy Lindo, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as musician Delta Slim, told the Sun-Times, “I felt really honored that he could be such an integral part of the story.” Fellow Oscar nominee Wunmi Mosaku added: “I think Buddy Guy is a living legend. I can't believe I have the honor to share a screen with him. I am so grateful for his contribution to the blues and now my life. He's amazing.”

It is not a coincidence that as the elder Sammie in the movie and elder statesman of the blues, Guy has built a legacy rooted in endurance and his musical excellence.

“Ryan had sent me an essential blues playlist that was full of Buddy Guy songs and that's where I kind of began to grow and learn my knowledge for the blues,” adds Miles Caton, who plays the younger Sammie.

Lola Kirke, who plays one of the vampires in the film, also has a deep connection to Guy. Kirke inherited her musician father’s record collection and noticed some scribbles on an album. “I asked my dad what did he draw on this album? He said, ‘I didn't draw anything. That's Buddy Guy's autograph.’ I'm really glad that I got to be in a movie with him even though I have never met him.”

Guy’s bandmate Orlando Wright said the scene where Sammie performs a song that summons past and present spirits, intertwining many musical styles of Black people, captures the story of the blues.

“The music has not stayed the same, which is the struggle of the blues ... [But] a house built on sand cannot stand. That scene [in the movie] is the story right there,” said

Back in the packed room at Legends, Guy made his guitar cry a blues that was as educational as it was electrifying. From opening act Katie Kadan to Guy’s band members, they all paid homage to his journey and commitment to his craft.

“He’s the real deal. He’s the connection from Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf to the present times. The best way I like to put it is he’s the blues version of Miles Davis,” bandmate Mike Wheeler said.

In both our conversation and his comments on stage, instead of talking about his place in history, Guy continued to give credit to his contemporaries. “My mom told me, ’Gonna be the best in town. Just be the best 'til the best come around.’”

The moment he stepped off the stage and began circling the venue, the energy shifted. The adoring crowd cheered, snapped photos and reached out to touch him as he passed, seeing up close-up the deep connection between artist and blues.

Rashana Guy brings a daughter’s perspective to it all: “I just love to see my father receiving his flowers while he could smell 'em ... and his story be told to a younger generation, so they'd be able to learn about the history of the blues and keep it alive.”