~Kevin Johnson, Berklee College of Music
ICONS AMONG US: JAZZ IN THE PRESENT TENSE offers an inspirational listening and viewing experience to the avid enthusiast and the jazz newcomer alike. Through interviews, performance footage, and the voices of the musicians themselves, the films explore the divergent influences that are shaping the world of jazz today. Never before has jazz music been so many different things to so many different people. From hip-hop to bebop, jam band to free form, the music continues to grow and shape itself in ways as varied as the musicians who play it. Featured artists include Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Avishai Cohen, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band, Esperanza Spalding, Marco Benevento, The Bad Plus, Courtney Pine, Garage a Trois, e.s.t. and many more.
Debuting this month, this educational release presents the comprehensive four-part series, originally broadcast on The Documentary Channel, along with bonus live performance footage of Brian Blade the Fellowship Band, The Bad Plus, Donald Harrison, Jr., 2009 Smithsonian Latino Center Legacy Award winner Danilo Pérez, Grammy Award winner Roy Hargrove, groundbreaking Nordic composer Bugge Wesseltoft and several other artists.
The series also is accompanied by an educational supplement, currently in development, to guide educators in exploring artists in the program and their search for meaning and form within the artistic process.
“A celebration of the roots of the creative process."
~Huffington Post
ICONS AMONG US: JAZZ IN THE PRESENT TENSE offers every library and educational institution the chance to be a part of this unfolding experience of American Cultural History.
More information available through IndiePix Films.
