Live music, a silent film, and history are all combined in a unique event making its West Coast premiere in Santa Barbara this weekend.
Louis is a modern-day silent film, complete with a sepia tone. It tells the story of a young Louis Armstrong in New Orleans and features a soundtrack performed live by Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.
The trumpeter and composer admits that, as a young teenage musician, like many of his age, he wasn't a fan of Armstrong.
"I grew up in the civil rights movement," said Marsalis. "We didn't like his [style of] talking, singing, and all that. He seemed like he was from the minstrel era. But also, we didn't listen to his music. We didn't actually know who he was."
Marsalis said the Armstrong hit song Jubilee helped change his mind about the legend.
"My father (who was a well-known musician) knew a lot about the history, and taught it," said Marsalis.
"When I moved to New York (to study music), I was 17. He sent me a tape and said, 'learn some of these solos.' That night, I'll never forget, I started with a song called Jubilee. [It] was so complex I couldn't play it. It gave me instantly another level of understanding and respect. After that, I got into his music."
In 2006, Marsalis brought together some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz to record a version of the classic 1920s Armstrong Hot Fives and Sevens collection.
"It was more like a modern take using his orchestration concepts, to do it the way we would do it," Marsalis said. "It would be interesting to listen to what we did in relation to the way they did it."
Now, the 90-minute silent film Louis, accompanied by a live jazz ensemble, brings Armstrong to life again in a different way.
The movie, directed by Dan Pritzker, is loosely based on Armstrong's childhood. Pianist Cecile Licad and an 11-piece all-star jazz ensemble accompany Marsalis.
He said one of the special things about the project is that as it tours, it’s always different. It’s live jazz, and they're always improvising.
"They're going to hear authentic music from a time period that they haven't heard," said Marsalis. "We bring these historical things together. It's very unusual."
UC Santa Barbara Arts and Lectures presents Louis Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theater.
