You've worked with Spike Lee before on films like "Inside Man" and "Mo' Better Blues." How did the "Levees" project come about?
We were working on Inside Man and I was an evacuee from New Orleans living in LA in my apartment. Spike came out there to work on the music for Inside Man. He came over and said "Look man, I want to do a story about the levees." And he saw a need to do that story. And my hat goes off to him, my level of respect for him has gone sky high, because he saw a need to let the voices of the city speak.
Can you tell us a little about the film? Have you seen the final cut?
The documentary itself is very gripping and powerful and compelling documentary because what Spike does he just lets the folks involved in the thing speak. He doesn't comment and draw any conclusions. There's no narrative to it. It's just a collection of interviews and that collection of interviews he's stringing together, in a chronological fashion, to tell a compelling story.
How does the music fit in or work with the film?
Well, with documentaries music is always a tricky thing because the words are very important. So, what I just try to do is to try to create atmosphere and background for these tales, and to try to keep the viewer engaged in the plight of all of these New Orleanians.
So scoring a documentary film is a different challenge than writing "Inside Man"?
Definitely. In a dramatic, theatrical release the music can play a major role and it can add drama to scenes. It's that intangible glue that kind of brings everything together. While in a documentary, words are the most important thing. The stories are the most important thing. And while there are times in documentaries where the music can stand out, for the most part you really want to hear these stories, hear these tales that are being told.
Are we going to hear the sounds of New Orleans in the score of the film?
A little bit in the score, but Spike has covered that. He has some brass bands that have been recorded, he has some original songs that have been recorded. I did it as I normally did most of his films, I took a very universal approach because my theory is that the tale itself is very powerful. There are some elements of the New Orleans sound that I do have in various spots of the score. But my thing is to string all of these things together to make one concise story.
Do you have any plans to perform the music live after the film is released?
Even before the film has been released, I've been commissioned to write a piece of work for a jazz session in Telluride, Colorado and I'm probably going to perform some of this music at that commissioned work with a small jazz ensemble.
You're a resident of New Orleans. Have you been able to go back to New Orleans to live at this point?
Yeah, we moved back in March.
What do you think jazz fans need to know about the state of New Orleans now in order to help it get back on its feet?
Well, I think the main thing they have to realize is that the city itself is struggling a bit through the bureaucracy to get back on its feet, but the spirit of the people there is still very strong. There are a lot of folks who are fighting through the muck and mire of bureaucracy to get their FEMA trailers, to get their building permits. Every time I drive by Home Depot or Lowe's those places are packed, the parking lots are packed with people buying building supplies to renovate their homes.
But I think what most Americans need to realize is that New Orleanians have been very appreciative of them in our time of need. Because when the hurricane hit and in the time after the hurricane there weren't any "blue" or "red" states as stated in the time of the election. It was one united country coming together to support that city and the citizens of New Orleans. But what we really need now is for everyone around the country not to forget about the story -- not only the people of New Orleans, but all the citizens of the Gulf Coast.
We need to make sure that the story stays alive because the story for us is not over. We need to hold our appointed officials' feet to the fire. They'll come to us and they'll kiss our ass for our vote, but in our time of need we get a lot of red tape, bureaucracy, and that's not what we really need right now. If you paid attention to us to get our vote, pay attention to us now in our time of need.
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