Russell Gunn on the future of jazz

Russell Gunn 8/2/09 Atlanta, GA

Question : Which direction would you like to see jazz head towards in the future ?

Over the 7+ years “Icons Among Us : jazz in the present tense” was in production, i was fortunate enough to interview so many of the intelligent, passionate and talented musicians who are pushing the genre forward. Russell Gunn was one of the first “official” interviews that i was able to conduct for the documentary. It was November 7th, 2002.. Seattle, Wa at Dimitrious Jazz Alley, which was the place of inspiration for what later became “Icons Among Us.” Without going into the story of Jazz Alley in this post, I will say that John Dimitriou was always extremely supportive of my desire to make this film, no matter what the future was for it’s existence as a finished documentary in reality. To be honest, i was just the art/film school kid who worked in the kitchen of his club. One of what must be hundreds before me throughout the club’s near 30 year existence as top jazz venue for Seattle .

To get back to the point of this post.. One question i seemed to always ask toward the end of an interview was a variation on the already cliche’ question “What is the future of Jazz?” or “Where do you think jazz will be in.. ?.” I changed it to a question that seemed to get somewhat of a positive reaction when asked, which was – “Where would you like to see jazz go in the future?”

When asked this way, i almost always received an answer from the musicians that didn’t feel like i had just asked them the question they hate to answer yet always seem to be asked. Without a doubt, we were met with all types of different answers and emotions in each interview…which is perfect when working in the visual realm of film. You can see the honesty in each of the faces and hear the passion in the voices of all those who offered up their opinion…and thank you to all of those who did. Here are one of those answers, as well as one of my all time favorite personalities i have gotten to know over the years. Russell Gunn. Trumpeter, composer, artist and more. Who, in my opinion, has not yet been given the proper recognition that he deserves in the jazz community and beyond. I will be writing more about Russell and all his musical achievements in future posts.

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