BMAKIN FILM PRESENTS
_______ JazzTown The Movie ______
JazzTown - The Movie
Cast includes:
~ Dianne Reeves, 5-time GRAMMY® Award winner for Best Jazz Vocalist
~ US Senator John Hickenlooper (former Governor of Colorado & jazz club owner)
~ Ron Miles, trumpet (Joshua Redman, Bill Frisell, Ginger Baker)
~ Charlie Hunter, guitar-bass (Snarky Puppy, Christian McBride, Stanton Moore)
~ Art Lande, piano (Mark Isham, Gary Peacock)
~ Ayo Awosika, vocalist (Miley Cyrus, Dune 2021, Rob Thomas, The Lion King Soundtrack)
and many more ...
Denver’s iconic and Grammy Award-winning musicians reveal the secrets of their success and longevity in the music business while warning the young lions to whom they pass the torch to stay relevant in a marketplace both treacherous and brutal.
The majestic Rocky Mountains tower over a bustling metropolis filled with steamy and romantic nightclubs where jazz flourishes on stage. JazzTown features never seen before live concert footage on historic stages that have now crumbled due to economic stresses of the Covid Pandemic. Tragically, more than a few of the stellar musicians featured in JazzTown have died during the making of this movie. Their stories and their passion and their wisdom live on to entertain and inspire the next generation.
American drummer and filmmaker Ben Makinen began making JazzTown 11 years ago as a way to say thank you to his early mentors in jazz and to preserve their stories. As their colorful and star-studded histories came to light Makinen realized the importance of broadening the scope of the film to include the young lions whose careers they helped to shape.
JazzTown, a feature length documentary, written, directed and produced by jazz drummer Ben Makinen, explores the many different voices in Denver's jazz scene and pays homage to his early mentors who played with jazz icons Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Charlie Parker and more!
Please make a Donation and help support the independent documentary filmmaking of Ben Makinen by clicking on the PayPal Donate button below.
Westword interview JazzTown director Ben Makinen
JAZZTOWN - The Movie
JAZZTOWN is Here!
Dianne Reeves, JazzTown, dir Ben Makinen movie still.
JazzTown Bmakin Film Critic's Choice Award World Film Carnival
JazzTown Movie Poster: Charles Burrell with Laurels. Feat Fred C Larkin and Ben Makinen Photography.
Ben Makinen wins Best Director Award from San Diego Movie Awards for the Documentary film JazzTown, 2021.
Matteo, director Ben Makinen's son, featured on collector's item T Shirt from Bmakin Film
JazzTown T-Shirt avail from Bmakin Film. Model is Dian Marhaeni.
Best Director Ben Makinen, for JazzTown, Bmakin Film 2021. Awarded by SanDiego Movie Awards; Award of Prestige.
Vocalist Christine Barbosa on set of JazzTown, dir Ben Makinen, at Nocturne, Denver, Colorado
Bmakin Film's JazzTown features photos by famous jazz photographer William P Gottlieb. Here is 52nd Street, NYC.
Francisco Mejias, conguero, on JazzTown shoot, dir Ben Makinen, Bmakin Film, Denver, Colorado
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper interviews for JazzTown directed Ben Makinen
JazzTown Coffee Mugs are avail from Bmakin Film!
Ayo Awosika, vocalist and band leader, is featured in Bmakin Film: JazzTown, and Who Killed Jazz, directed by Ben Makinen.
JazzTown Bmakin Film World Film Carnival Documentary Critic's' Choice Award
Bmakin Film's JazzTown features photos by famous jazz photographer William P Gottlieb. Here is a New York City midtown club in the 1950s.
Walter Barr, Trumpet, JazzTown & Who Killed Jazz; Bmakin Film, dir Ben Makinen
Alamosa Great Sand Dunes this shot by Ben Makinen is features in "The Mission" Bmakin Film
Charles Burrell in JazzTown by Ben Makinen. Photo by Fred C Larkin
Bmakin Film's JazzTown features photos by famous jazz photographer William P Gottlieb. Here is Dizzy Gillespie in 1947.
JazzTown and Bmakin Film wins an International Symbolic Art Film Award 2021.
JazzTown and Who Killed Jazz, two films by Ben Makinen and Bmakin Film include photos and film of vocalist Linda-Theus Lee.
Bmakin Film: Who Killed Jazz features photos from the 1940s and 50s: this one by Gordon Parks: Students in Library at Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida
Bmakin Film: Who Killed Jazz, a new short documentary with featuring photos like this: Woman working on WWII "Vengeance" Dive Bomber, by Alfred T Palmer, 1943.
JazzTown - Bmakin Film Drone Photography by Ben Makinen: Denver, Colorado, USA
Director and Actor Ben Makinen, Who Killed Jazz, Bmakin Film