“I don’t know how you can get older and stronger at the same time, but he’s managing!” said director Al Hicks of jazz legend Clark Terry, one of the subjects of his joyful and soulful documentary “Keep On Keepin’ On,” which was honored with the Audience Award and the Best New Documentary Director prize at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.
The film focusses on the relationship between Terry and one of his students, Justin Kauflin. The two met when Kauflin was an undergraduate at William Paterson University, where Terry is a permanent artist in residence and from which he received an honorary doctorate. A charming and soft-spoken piano prodigy, Kauflin is also blind—and connected with Terry at a time when Terry himself was losing his sight as a complication of diabetes. In fact, it was Hicks, who also studied music with Terry at William Paterson and then played in his band before returning home to Australia, who introduced the two.
Despite any frustrations or setbacks, Terry and Kauflin are models of good will, community, determination, and the joys of a life in music. With help from one another and from other loved ones in their lives (special mention to two women featured in the film who provide extraordinary support and encouragement: Terry’s wife, Gwen, and Kauflin’s mother, Phyllis), they face challenges head-on and rejoice in successes, their own and each others’. Quincy Jones (Terry’s student decades ago, one of his closest friends, and a producer on the film) is featured in several scenes. To watch him and Terry simply enjoying each other’s company is heartwarming and powerful.
Originally, a film about Terry and Hicks had been planned; but when the funding fell through, Hicks and a friend came up with the idea that a project could be based around Terry and another student instead—and with that, a film and a filmmaker were born. The worldwide rights and remake rights for “Keep On Keepin’ On” were purchased during the festival by Radius-TWC, a boutique label of the Weinstein Company—great news for the film and for all who hope to see the project. Meanwhile, those who would like to offer respects to Clark Terry for a lifetime of musical contribution can do so via the guestbook on his website (www.clarkterry.com). “He gets all the messages,” says Hicks. “His wife reads them to him.”
Exhausted but happy as the Tribeca festival came to a close, Hicks now wonders how to continue with his music (he’s a drummer) and have a film career at the same time. “I just got off the phone with Clark a little while ago,” he said after the film’s final festival screening. “He’s on my case at the moment to get back to practicing!”
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