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Coming to Ann Arbor.....the Michigan premiere of
the
Award-winning jazz documentary
'Chops'
a
feature film directed by
Detrot native
Bruce Broder
produced in association with
Winnercomm, Inc.,
with thanks to Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York)
'Chops'
Friday,
February 12, 2010
7:00 pm
Michigan Theater,
Ann Arbor
Run time: 89 minutes
Director
Bruce Broder
will introduce
the film,
then answer
questions
following
the
show
Michigan Theater
603 E. Liberty St | (734)
668-TIME | http://michtheater.org
Tickets:
$9 adults; $7 students, seniors, U.S. veterans
$6.50 Michigan Theater members
Group: $5 special price for high school & college students, 10 or
more
Contact Drew Waller, 734-668-8397 ext. 25 -or-
dwaller@michtheater.org
Advance tickets via www.ticketweb.com, and
the MT box office
Buy the DVD
'Chops'
is now on sale! Enjoy the fabulous extras and bonus
features. Visit Amazon
or 'Chops' the Movie web site here.
About the Festival
The
annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band
Competition & Festival is one of the most
innovative jazz education events in the world. Each year, high school
musicians from across North America travel to New York City to spend
three days immersed in workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals and
performances at the "House of Swing," Jazz at Lincoln Center's home,
Frederick P. Rose Hall.
Inside 'Chops'
'Chops'
made its debut at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, followed by
appearances at film festivals across the country. It won numerous
awards, including the International Documentary Association's Alan Ett
Music Documentary Award, three Audience Favorite Awards and two Grand
Prizes. It was selected by the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and shown
at the Duke Ellington 110th Birthday Celebration.
Each
year Jazz at Lincoln Center and artistic director Wynton
Marsalis host the prestigious Essentially Ellington Festival,
a competition boasting the best high school jazz ensembles from
across the nation. A running constant is the decorated Duke Ellington
songbook and his legacy as a composer-arranger. The film follows four
high school bands,
though Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a public arts high
school in Jacksonville, FL, nets Broder's main focus. The
competitive fire for all these students ascends to new heights
once exported to the famed New York
City festival. Inspired by a community of jazz
musicians-turned-judges, the students humbly carry the
legacy of jazz masters who pioneered this revered American artform.
Jam-packed with outstanding performances, 'Chops'
makes you
admire the dedication of these teenagers as they proudly watch the
culmination of their hard work: an electrifying festival performance
where the students realize that no matter how much one prepares,
sometimes life, like jazz, calls for improvisation.
Ultimately, 'Chops' invites audiences to view the action from a
number of different seats in the house: as students, as parents, as
jazz aficionados, as fans of competition.
Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Jazz
Band I
The backdrop of Jazz at Lincoln Center and Frederick P. Rose Hall ('The
House of Swing') sets up a special convergence for filmmaker Broder and
many accomplished student musicians, turned film subjects. Along
the way, audiences get a choice earshot perch to observe and monitor
interaction from name judges such as trumpet master Wynton Marsalis
(JALC artistic director), Northern Illinois University professor Ron
Carter, trumpeter Marcus
Printup, plus JALC clinicians Walter Blanding (tenor sax), Justin
DiCioccio (drums), Victor Goines (clarinet), and Arturo
O'Farrill (piano).
The three other high school bands featured in the film are:
Jazz I Band
LaVilla School of the Arts, Jacksonville, FL
Carol McQueen, Director
Jazz Band
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Scott Brown, Director
Isabella DuGraf, Vocalist
Jazz Band
Garfield High School, Seattle, WA
Clarence Acox, Director
Ann Arbor Connections
'Chops'
has a number of significant ties to Ann Arbor. It was produced
and directed by Detroit native Bruce Broder, a graduate of Cranbrook
School and the University of Michigan. Bruce's son, tenor
saxophonist Owen Broder, is one of the central subjects of the film and
began his music studies in the Ann Arbor area.The film was made thanks
to the cooperation of Jazz at Lincoln Center and its Director of
Education, Erika Floreska, also a Detroit native and U-M grad. Also,
famed jazz clubs Baker's Keyboard Lounge (Detroit) and The
Firefly Club (Ann Arbor) serve as the settings for the film's opening
sequence. At Baker's a touring student band, The
Hot 7,
is seen jamming during a headline performance.
Critics Corner
'Anyone
who wonders why jazz and the movies are often called the quintessential
American arts should check out Bruce Broder's exhilarating documentary
about high school jazz bands, CHOPS'
-Michael Sragow, Baltimore
Sun {Read the full review -here-}
'It made me laugh, made me tear up, made me feel great. It was
fantastic.'
-Andrea Mineo, CNN
'The film is so well made, a labor of love…just the feeling of it, the
soul of it all.'
-Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director, Jazz at
Lincoln Center
Backstage with 'Chops'
| From director-producer
Bruce Broder: |
'One of the amazing things I learned from this process
was how these
kids
from different backgrounds learned to communicate with and respect each
other. You don't get to see kids of different races and backgrounds
interact this way very often. It speaks to the power of music. At some
point these kids became jazz kids, they took on this collective jazz
persona, and you can see it in the way they greet each other, in the
language they use when they talk with each other, in the way they move.
In celebrating the music they are celebrating their individuality and
at the same time they are celebrating what they have in common. That's
the beauty of jazz.'
| From executive producer Tim
Cremin: |
'My greatest hope for this film is that kids, parents,
educators and anyone else
who
sees it gets inspired to find out what this music can do. Just
listening to jazz can inspire you. But when you see what jazz can do
for these kids, both personally and as a group, it's obvious that it's
much more than learning to play. It touches their souls and makes them
feel good about themselves. I wish every kid in the world could feel
that.'
In the course of a 25-year career in advertising, Bruce Broder held
agency positions from copywriter to president. He won numerous
creative awards at agencies in Michigan, Maryland and Florida. A
graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English, Broder
has written and directed numerous short films and videos. In
2003, he developed the concept for the documentary 'Chops' chronicling
the musical journey of the jazz band at one of the nation's leading
high schools for the arts. 'Chops' marks Broder's directorial
debut of a feature length film.
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