JazzTown

Rating: 9/10

Director: Ben Makinen

Style: Documentary

Time: 90 minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBc7-5gASi0

Review by Mike Szymanski

It’s a little-known fact that the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado has a long history of jazz. Thought to be a New Orleans-focused art form, this distinguished American-style music has a strong history as far up as Denver — and it’s worth a look like this film.

“JazzTown” is a rare documentary that explores this unique history and talks to people of all generations and backgrounds about jazz music today, and from the past.

Not only does it show a kid who is a drummer with a crazy-impressive knowledge of the music (Declan Scully), but also old-timers like Gene Bass, who recalls Mahalia Jackson bringing down the house for Preacher Clarence Cobb’s church, and also 102-year-old legendary bassist Charles Burrell who worked with Billie Holiday and the San Francisco Symphony.

The eclectic mix of jazz musicians that comprise this doc includes amazing performers and singers like Rikha Ohal, who talks about how she likes unusual music and then launches into a slow jazz version of Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did it Again.” She admits her fellow band members aren’t always happy about the covers she chooses, but she makes them all in her unusual jazz style.

Another musician, Creighton Holley, laments that the younger generation only wants “blue jean, tank-top jazz” and not the oldies they had at one time.

This documentary is mixed with stunning scenes of the city and countryside. Both the sun coming up and fireworks in the city night skies.

Some of the interviews are captured in very dark clubs, but that’s where you will find those who really know their jazz. Just as the smoke emanates from the streets and the lights come to a colorful blur, the stories about jazz, and the different definitions of jazz all meld into this fantastic story about something that defies definition.

Singer Teresa Carroll talks about the days when you went up on stage, and if you were off pitch, or were not in tune, they came up with a hook and replaced your the spot.

“JazzTown” is directed by Ben Makinen, who is a noted drummer in his own right, and he has collected an impressive and eclectic group of people trying to define the music he loves.

For example, musician and composer Ron Buckman talks about a tape he found in the trash of a discarded group of church singing and he pieced it together into his own work. He then plays a deconstructed rendition of “Let it Be.”

Another old-timer recommends that new musicians don’t get into jazz. He says, “Get a profession where you can put beans on the table and love old Mabel.”

Freddy Rodriguez is an 84-year-old saxophonist who laughs when asked about his longevity in the jazz world and says, “No smoking, well, I do smoke a little weed.” He grew up in the 1950s living on potatoes and chili beans and played at a Latin club called The Peck.

For some of these elder icons, this is their last interview (Rodriguez, for example, passed in 2020). But their words of wisdom live on. Makinen has captured their last stands.

Those words of wisdom include how the Latin influence has encroached on the American music, how “talent and success rarely go together” and how “the only people who can afford to play jazz are wealthy people.”

The cinematography and editing are perfect for this moody, bluesy film, and every interview is unique and priceless. From Mitch Chmara the guitarist with his bird Butters on his shoulder, to Grammy-winning Dianne Reeves and international recording artist Ron Miles, you have no idea who is going to pop up next.

There’s former Max Roach/Sonny Rollins pianist Billy Wallace and “Wakanda Forever” session singer Ayo Awosika and many others.

“In ‘JazzTown’ I honor hometown heroes, masters of the art of improvisation who nurtured generations of young musicians who went on to become stars,” the director says.

The people interviewed in the documentary worked with the likes of Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Nancy Wilson and Sonny Rollins. It took the director a dozen years to finish the project through his own personal struggles of the death of his dad to cancer, and two divorces.

Makinen, who now lives in Bali, Indonesia, says, “I’m quite certain my dad and a few of the cast who died before seeing ‘JazzTown’ completed acted as guardian angels because during the editing process I had all of my camera gear and computers stolen, and despite suffering through floods, a power surge short-circuiting a replacement computer, a landslide taking out half a home, and an earthquake that had us running for our lives from the home office I was able to hang onto my hard drives containing the movie files and to my resolve to share ‘JazzTown’ with the world. No one else in my family was hurt — ‘JazzTown’ was meant to be.”

He sold his collection of drums and then is car, to finish up the project. It was still important for him to continue to tell these stories.

“I knew would exist only as memories to some and as footnotes to others once they had died,” Makinen says. “I wanted to capture their stories and their magnificence and grace of spirit while they still performed in public. They had shown so much patience with me as a young drummer that I felt compelled to honor their spirit of mentorship. The importance of mentorship is not unique to jazz, it is universal.”

Makinen started drumming from the time he was 2, and listening to his dad’s record collection of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. His first paying gig was at 14, and he is now a music producer, music video director and filmmaker.

Makinen worked on every single element of this film, from writing and directing and shooting and editing to composing score and also self-distributing through his company Bmakin Film.

He is working on a second documentary feature for Bmakin Film called “We Are Here: Women In Jazz” that explores the gender disparity found within jazz and what are the obstacles women face in a male-dominated industry. That illustrious cast includes the Manhattan Transfer, Veronica Swift, Andromeda Turre (from the “Saturday Night Live” band), the bassist from the band Chicago, music producer Ervin Pope (Kanye West, Ben Harper) and the voices of Native American men and women carrying on the jazz tradition their elders helped to create.

Some of my favorite moments are from politician John Hickenlooper who was the Colorado governor at the time, and now a Democratic U.S. Senator who owned a jazz club, and played himself.

Many universities have the film already in their film libraries and the film won Best Picture at the Rome Movie Awards, Best Director at the San Diego Movie Awards, Best Soundtrack at the New Orleans Second Line Film Festival and Critics Choice at the World Film Carnival. The doc won recognition at IndieFEST, Europa Film Festival, Fourth Dimension Independent Film Festival, and many others worldwide.

If you love jazz, you will love ‘JazzTown’ and if you don’t love jazz yet, this will get you to start loving it.

‘JazzTown’ is on online streaming platforms such as AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vimeo, and YouTube. Access all links to these platforms here: https://www.bemakinen.com/jazztown and https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jazztown.

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