Film Screening - February 23 - College of Coastal Georgia, Stembler Theatre

1 College Drive,Brunswick GA 31520

23 February, 2023

Description

Join us for a special screening of short films produced and directed by acclaimed jazz musician Willie Ruff. With support from a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Willie Ruff, Dwike Mitchell, and virtuoso trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie traveled to the Sea Islands of Georgia in 1981 to meet legendary singer Bessie Jones. As Ruff said later, they visited Jones because she represented an experience that was “as far back as we could get where there was a traceable continuity. Her grandfather had been a slave child when he arrived in North America at seven years old, and he brought not only memory of some games he had learned as a small child in Africa, but they kept learning more.” The film features conversations between Jones and Gillespie, and Jones and her students teaching Gillespie how to play several games. In 2015, Ruff completed an edit of the film, which was shown in 2020 at Yale University. Another short film produced by Ruff and exploring the history of American jazz will also be shown. Plans are being made for Willie Ruff to attend each event. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s in music at Yale University, Willie Ruff formed a duo with pianist Dwike Mitchell in the 1950s. With Ruff playing the French horn and double bass, the pair worked the nightclub and concert circuits, often as the opening attraction for legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. Ruff returned to his alma mater in 1971 and served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music until 2017. During these years, Ruff made a number of films focusing on the history of jazz and African American musical traditions. Screenings will be offered at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center and at the College of Coastal Georgia in the Stembler Theatre. Each screening will take place from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.