A Tribute To The Legendary Ben Tucker: “In Tune”

 
 
The 36th Annual Savannah Jazz Festival kicked off last Sunday with a concert at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa and will continue through Saturday, September 23, 2017.

On Monday night, Sept. 18, the Savannah community got to see the documentary about Ben Tucker’s life and legacy.

The Coastal Jazz Association and the Friends of Ben Tucker hosted a large gathering at the Lucas Theatre in downtown Savannah. A free concert featuring The Ben Tucker Alumni Band entertained the crowd with some of Ben’s biggest hits before the screening of the documentary called “In Tune.”

Kenneth Daniel, MA, Professor of Film and Television at Savannah College of Art and Design, along with a team of students worked on the project for two years. They gathered footage from Ben Tucker’s early days as well as interviews with the many people around the country who knew and worked with Tucker. He is credited with the revival of jazz music in Savannah.

Paula Fogarty, Interim Executive Director, Coastal Jazz Association said, “Jazz in Savannah has had a long history, it started at the same time as jazz commenced in Congo Square in New Orleans, and it really goes back to our jazz roots and perpetuating the future of America’s indigenous art form of jazz.” “Monday night was a culmination of people who respect Ben Tucker’s legacy and want to preserve it for the future”, said Barbara Essig, President of Friends of Ben Tucker.

If you missed Monday’s screening, you’ll have another chance to catch it.

The film has been accepted into the Savannah Film Festival that begins at the end of October. It has also been picked up by PBS and will be broadcast during Black History Month and will eventually be made into a DVD.

For more of The Savannah Jazz Festival schedule and venues throughout the week visit savannahjazzfest.com.

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