With its all-star arsenal of musical legends sharing the spotlight at Radio City Music Hall, Antoine Fuqua's “Lightning in a Bottle” immediately brings to mind “The Last Waltz,” Martin Scorsese's seminal, elegiac tribute to The Band.

Scorsese himself invites the comparison, emceeing the 2003 benefit concert organized to mark the 100th anniversary of blues as an American artistic phenomenon.

As the show gains momentum, the similarities between the two films gradually erode in an avalanche of rhythm, moans and slide guitar. Whereas “The Last Waltz” was moody, bittersweet and distinctly heavy-lidded, “Lightning in a Bottle” is purely exultant, as much a tribute to cultural survival as to the blues itself.

The form's roots in the segregationist South are expressed both musically and visually: Director Fuqua (“Training Day”) punctuates Odetta's warbling rendition of “Jim Crow Blues” with grainy archival images of “Whites Only” signs and other vestiges of the South's segregated past.

Via live testimony and visual cues, Fuqua charts a musical and geographical history of blues, reputedly invented by orchestra leader W.C. Handy in 1903 after watching a hobo slide a rusty knife across the strings of a handmade guitar. With treasured blues relics such as Buddy Guy and David “Honeyboy” Edwards on the playlist, Fuqua covers some serious ground.

Contemporary heirs such as Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, Natalie Cole and Mos Def provide the most energetic performances, while Chuck D. of Public Enemy briefly breaks up the love fest with an indignant, anti-war version of “Boom Boom.” Fittingly, B.B. King delivers the nightcap.

Produced by Scorsese and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, “Lightning in a Bottle” is one of the most efficient, professionally staged concert movies in a long while, cramming dozens of songs into a modest, under-two-hours running time.

And though many of the artists are several decades removed from their prime, there's not a hint of fatigue in their performances. As venerable blues diva Ruth Brown tells the camera, “We're not at a funeral.” No, ma'am. Not by a sight.

‘Lightning in a Bottle’
Grade: B Starring: B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Macy Gray, John Fogerty, Natalie Cole Running time: 106 minutes Rating: PG-13 (profanity)
Playing: Opens Friday at Harkins Camelview in Scottsdale