10th Miami Jazz Film Festival

From August 10th through August 13th, 2006Festival Program Thursday, August 10th at 7:00 p.m. Music is My Life, Politics My Mistress. The Story of Oscar Brown Jr. USA, 2005, 110 min., directed by Donnie l. Betts. Poet, jazz singer, stage actor, composer, trade union activist, radio host and senatorial candidate, Oscar Brown Jr. was a self-educated polymath whose voice, both musical and political, reached the empowered and disempowered alike. This jazzy, high-energy biographical portrait mixes a masterful blend of archival and animated sequences and features renowned friends and fans including Al Jarreau, Abbey Lincoln, Studs Terkel and Amiri Baraka. Friday, August 11th at 8:00 p.m. Keith Jarrett – The Art of Improvisation U.S. Premiere. UK, 2005, 85 min., directed by Mike Dibb. Keith Jarrett is one of the few jazz superstars, whose concerts sell out almost immediately, wherever he plays. This documentary offers an exceptional opportunity to examine the contrasting worlds of jazz and classical music. At the same time it will present a fascinating and analytical portrait of a complex but remarkable musician whose interests and influences range from jazz, ethnic and folk music, to Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky and Samuel Barber. Friday, August 11th at 10:00 p.m. Astor Piazzolla – A Portrait. U.S. Premiere. UK , 2005, 106 min., directed by Mike Dibb. Exploring Piazzolla’s vibrant musical influence around the world, this film charts the events of his turbulent, complicated personal and professional life through candid and revealing interviews with Piazzolla himself, his family, friends and the great Argentinian musicians who performed with him. The film includes rare and exhilarating archive sequences spanning 30 years of filmed performances by Piazzolla’s own groups. Saturday, August 12th at 1:00 p.m. Vintage Jazz Cartoons. A free presentation for children to view a nice selection of vintage cartoons featuring the likes of Betty Boop, with music from Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and others. Saturday, August 12th at 3:00 p.m. Soul to Soul. Florida Premiere. USA, 1971, 95 min., directed by Denis Sanders. Newly re-mastered and restored from the original 35mm negative, this is the classic 1971 concert film that brought some of the greatest performers of the era to Ghana, Africa for a 14-hour musical celebration. Featuring Wilson Pickett, Ike & Tina Turner, Santana, The Staple Singers and others, Soul To Soul combines classic concert performances with scenes of the artists getting in touch with their roots as they return to the cultural motherland of Africa. Saturday, August 12th at 5:00 p.m. Jazz on the West Coast: The Lighthouse. Florida Premiere. USA, 2005, 80 min., directed by Ken Koenig. The Lighthouse was the premiere jazz club in the Los Angeles area during the 1950s and 1960s. Through the use of numerous interviews, pictures, music and video clips, the film tells the story of the Lighthouse and two men of very different backgrounds and personalities who brought the club and their band called ‘The Lighthouse All-Stars’ to the point of gaining world-wide fame. Saturday, August 12th at 8:00 p.m. Habana Abierta – Boomerang. U.S. Premiere Spain, 2006, 54 min., directed by Carlos Carcas. In their newly released CD on Calle 54 Records with the same title, produced by Fernando Trueba and Nat Chediak, one can hear the voice of a new generation of Cuban musicians, those who spent their youth in the island and have left in search of freedom to express themselves. Starting from the roots of dance music, the new American music and rock, this documentary chronicles a happy and boisterous group, who sing a song to life with no holds barred. Saturday, August 12th at 10:00 p.m. El Milagro de Candeal. Florida Premiere. Spain, 2004, 124 min., directed by Fernando Trueba. Bebo Valdés, the great then 85-year-old Cuban pianist who has spent the last 42 years exiled in Stockholm, travels to Salvador de Bahía in Brazil, where Africa’s music and religions have been preserved in their purest forms. Sunday, August 13th at 1:00 p.m. WDNA Picnic. USA, 2005, 30 min., directed by Ursa-Noel Gil. She came to WDNA as the five-year-old daughter of the hosts of our French program and now as an adult artist and filmmaker, Ursa-Noel filmed WDNA’s picnic where awards were given, everyone had plenty to eat and drink, and we all had fun as members of the WDNA family. Sunday, August 13th at 3:00 p.m. On the Road with Ray Barreto. In Memoriam. France, 1998, 60 min., directed by Patrick Savey. We revisit a past Festival presentation to pay tribute to an icon who passed away this year. While Ray Barretto’s congas have graced more recording sessions than virtually any other conguero of his time, he has also led some refreshingly progessive Latin Jazz bands over the decades. This no doubt reflects Barretto’s wide range of musical interests and also the fact that he came to Latin music from jazz, rather than the usual vice-versa route for Latin-descended musicians. Sunday, August 13th at 5:00 p.m. The Cole Nobody Knows. Florida Premiere.USA, 2005, 21 min., directed by Clay Walker. Even though Chicago-native Freddy Cole, the lesser know, yet talented younger brother of Nat “King” Cole has been recording artist for more than fifty years, he has yet to be accepted into the mainstream public’s consciousness. At age 74, with his current recording receiving international acclaim, Freddy Cole is finally being widely recognized for his amazing musical talent. Followed by: Young at Heart- Monty Alexander. U.S. Premiere. France, 2004, 50 min., directed by Daniel Farhi. From the series “On the Road with Master Groovers” this is an intimate portrait of THE master of Jamaican Jazz. It’s unimaginable to find an unsmiling Monty Alexander. This documentary which clips of concerts, interviews, and archival photographs brings a lot of memories. From his playing since the age of 6 to his stint in Miami, where Frank Sinatra tapped him for a job at Jilly’s in New York, and his playing with giants like Ray Brown, Clark Terry, and Milt Jackson, it’s all here. Sunday, August 13th at 7:00 p.m. Brotherly Jazz: The Music and Stories of Percy, Jimmy and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Florida Premiere. USA, 2006, 73 min., directed by Jesse Block. In jazz, as in baseball and haute cuisine, the most consistently reliable performers are often overshadowed by media-anointed superstars or this year’s model. So it is with the Heath Brothers, the legendary Philadelphia triumvirate of jazz. Together and apart these unassuming professional musicians have lent their talents to an amazing array of wonderful albums, including the Modern Jazz Quartet, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. Sunday, August 13th at 9:00 p.m. Make it Funky! All Started in New Orleans. Florida Premiere. USA, 2005, 109 min., directed by Michael Murphy. Art Neville, the film’s narrator and musical consultant, observes that for African Americans the history of music and the history of survival are really one, and director Michael Murphy documents the city itself as he moves from Congo Square, the one place where slaves could keep their music and dances alive, to the neighborhood where Louis Armstrong was born and into the streets, witnessing a traditional New Orleans parade. The festival will take place at Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami Campus located at 1111 Memorial Drive in Coral Gables, FL. For more information, please call: 305.662.8889