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Part concert, part interview, part career retrospective, part celebration of her Native American heritage, Up Where We Belong is about as complete an audiovisual look at the work of Buffy Sainte-Marie as anyone could need. Sainte-Marie, the Canadian-born singer-songwriter who was lumped in with the '60s folk movement despite not really being a folkie (for one thing, she provided her own material from the start), has written or cowritten some very familiar tunes, including the title song (a huge hit for Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, and an Oscar winner in '82), "Until It's Time for You to Go" (recorded by Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand, among others), and "Universal Soldier" (a defining '60s moment for Donovan). All are here, given simple, semi-acoustic treatments with backing from Sainte-Marie's New Age-flavored band. Also on hand are two Native American groups, Red Ball and Stoney Park, whose drumming and chanting, combined with Sainte-Marie's quavering, almost keening vibrato, generate real intensity on Indian-flavored fare like "Starwalker" and "He's an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo." Sainte-Marie, who essentially retired from an active music career for 16 years to raise a son (and make regular appearances on Sesame Street), made something of a comeback in the '90s; age 60 when this concert was filmed, she has made a reputation as a digital artist as well as a musician, and some of her computer work is featured here as well. All in all, Up Where We Belong is Buffy Sainte-Marie's ebullient valentine to herself--and a well-deserved one, at that. --Sam Graham
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