HARLEM IN MONMARTRE - PBS SPECIAL

This Wed., August 26, 2009 8:00 pm (90 minutes

It is being aired in all 50 states this week. Please check your local listings.

Dr. Nelson Harrison makes a comment on camera in the early segment of this documentary (in the 15 - 18 minute time slot. Appearing later in the film are Pittsburgh Jazz Legends Joe Harris (drums) and Ray Brown (bass) playing with Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band.

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/harlem-in-montmartre/preview-of-harlem-in-montmartre/827/

...Vanguard Documentaries Executive Producer Charles Hobson reveals, “The French were the first people in the world to respect jazz as serious art form, and it all began in Paris with the arrival of the Harlem Hellfighters, a military band.”

Directed by Dante J. James, with performance sequences directed by Olivier Simmonet, and written by James and Simmonet with Allan Miller, the production was co-produced by Smilow with Hobson and Helene Le Coeur; S. Epatha Merkerson narrates...

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Comment

Comment by Lady on August 26, 2009 at 9:52am

I would love to be there. I'm right now in Amsterdam - Netherlands. We'll keep in touch,
Love Peace & Music,
Lady

Comment by shirley riley-davis on August 26, 2009 at 8:07am

i would love to be there. i would love to attend all of the fabulous events dr, harrison puts together but i live in michigan. i have this book. won't the documentary be shown on pbs for all the world to see.

Comment by Dr. Nelson Harrison on August 26, 2009 at 6:48am

Beloved American jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway once said, “You hear about the Duke Ellingtons, the Jimmy Luncefords, the Fletcher Hendersons, but people sometimes forget that jazz was not only built in the minds of the great ones, but on the backs of the ordinary ones.”

While far from ordinary, Harlem in Montmartre tells the story of the long-forgotten “extraordinary ones,” who left America to create the jazz age in Paris between the First and Second World Wars. After peace was signed at Versailles, many black Americans remained in Europe rather than return to the brutal segregation and racism of America.

Over the next two decades, they formed an expatriate community of musicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, primarily congregating in Paris’ hilly Montmartre neighborhood. Some achieved enduring fame, while others faded into history.

Harlem in Montmartre airs as part of PBS’ Great Performances series on THIRTEEN Wednesday, August 26th at 8 p.m. EST (check local listings). The documentary is a co-production of THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG, Vanguard Documentaries, Inc., Ideale Audience SAS, ARTE France and Independent Television Service (ITVS).


Inspired by the book Harlem in Montmartre: a Paris Jazz Story (University of California Press) by historian William A. Shack and utilizing rare archival material from both France and America, this remarkable performance- driven documentary features the stories and music of such key figures as James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Bricktop, Eugene Bullard, Django Reinhardt and more.


“The film explores a fascinating, yet often neglected, era in African-American cultural history” says producer Margaret Smilow. “It is a colorful, musical, poignant look at the contributions of a select group of black Americans, without whom the collective voice of jazz music around the world would sound entirely different.”

Upcoming episodes
Airs on
WETA TV 26
Wed., August 26, 2009
8:00 pm
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG


Airs on
WETA HD

Wed., August 26, 2009
8:00 pm
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG


Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., August 27, 2009
12:30 am
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG


Airs on
WETA TV 26

Thu., August 27, 2009
1:30 pm
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG


Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., August 27, 2009
1:30 pm
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG


Airs on
WETA TV 26

Fri., August 28, 2009
1:30 am
(90 minutes)

Harlem in Montmartre

S. Epatha Merkerson narrates the story of the jazz age in Paris, which flourished between the First and Second World Wars because some black U.S. veterans remained in Europe rather than returning to segregated America.

Rating: TV-PG