Production Team
Jason Berry – Director, Producer, Writer
www.jasonberryauthor.com
Jason Berry achieved prominence for his reporting on the Catholic Church crisis in Lead Us Not Into Temptation (1992), a book used in many newsrooms. He has been widely interviewed in the national media, with many appearances on Nightline, Oprah, ABC and CNN. USA Today called Berry “the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance.”
Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, written with Gerald Renner (2004) has Spanish, Australian and Italian editions. The film won Best TV Documentary Award at 2008 Docs D.F. — Mexico City International Festival of Documentary Film.
Jason Berry produces documentaries and writes on culture and politics for many publications. Up From the Cradle of Jazz. a history of New Orleans music, reissued in fall 2009 has new sections on the cultural impact of Hurricane Katrina. His play, Earl Long in Purgatory, won a 2002 Big Easy award for Best Original Work in Theatre.
Mr. Berry produced a 2008 documentary, Vows of Silence, based on the book, which examines the Vatican’s system of justice in the sex abuse crisis and had airdates in Spain, Italy and Ireland. He was co-producer of the 2014 Frontline film Secrets of the Vatican by producer-director Anthony Thomas. Jason Berry lives in New Orleans.
Bernard (Biff) Pettingill, Executive Producer
Bernard Pettengill is a native New Orleanian with a Ph D in Economics from Manchester University in England. He taught for many years at University of Louisiana, Lafayette; the LSU Medical School; and Atlantic University in Palm Beach, Florida, near his home. A forensic economist since 1985, he works as a consultant for a range of clients, and has testified in more than 1500 cases across 29 states, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is the majority shareholder in the puzzle company www.puzzle8.net. “City of A Million Dreams” is his first film project.
Tim Watson – Editor, Writer, Co-Producer
Tim Watson is a documentary editor, writer, and producer based in New Orleans. He has worked extensively with Berry, and was editor of Vows of Silence. Much of his work has been at the intersection of New Orleans music and social issues, working on films featuring Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler, James Booker, the TBC brass band, and many other musicians. His work has been seen on PBS, the Sundance Channel, HBO, the Documentary Channel, and other networks in the U.S. and Europe; and at many film festivals around the world.
He edited Cross Eyed (2021), was advising editor on Mossville: When Great Trees Fall (2019), was advising editor and editor of book content for Fess Up (2018), edited Everything Is To Be Continued (summer 2015); was advising editor for Big Charity: The Death of America’s Oldest Hospital (2014); edited and co-produced Campo to B.C. (2014); co-edited and co-wrote Bayou Maharajah (2013); co-produced and co-edited The Music’s Gonna Get You Through (2010); was supervising producer and co-editor for Bury The Hatchet (2010); co-edited Walker Percy: A Documentary Film (2010); edited Taste Of Place (series, 2010-11); did story development for and edited Vows of Silence (2008); edited Member Of The Club (2008); co-produced and edited By Invitation Only (2006); edited a documentary segment for HBO Comic Relief (2006); co-produced and edited A Player To Be Named Later (2005); co-produced and co-edited Desire (2005); edited and co-wrote Shalom Y’All (2002); and edited Ruthie The Duck Girl (1999).
Simonette Berry – Co-Producer, UPM, Production Designer, Writer
www.simonetteberry.com | www.scenicartandcastingstudio.com
Simonette, a classically trained fine artist and writer from New Orleans, has a long background in sculpting, painting, and designing for film and television. Her film credits include: sculptor Capone (2020), a scenic artist on Underwater (2020), scenic artist on Claws: Season 2 (2018), sculptor/moldmaker on Geostorm (2017), scenic artist on Roots (2016), sculptor, moldmaker, and scenic artist on Terminator: Genisys (2015), lead sculptor on Into the Badlands: Season 1 (2015), sculptor and moldmaker on Maze Runner (2014), sculptor on Salem: Seasons 1 and 3 (2014-17), leadman and featured artist on Chef (2014), production designer and scenic artist on Bayou Tales (in post production), and others. Her company, Scenic Art and Casting Studio, has created sets for Southern Rep Theater, the New Orleans Opera, Fringe Festival, the Marigny Opera House Ballet, and other theatrical productions and events. Before devoting herself completely to film, she wrote as a columnist and Assistant Editor at Louisiana Homes and Gardens Magazine, freelanced with other publications, and contributed to the book of post-Katrina essays New Orleans: What Can’t Be Lost.
Simonette is the Assistant Business Agent and Chair of the Board of Trustees for IATSE Local 478, representing film workers in Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama.
Harris Done – Director of Photography
Director of Photography Harris Done has worked in many genres over the past 25 years. Most notable has been his long documentary collaboration with director James Moll. Their work includes the 1999 Academy Award-winning Feature Documentary The Last Days for executive producer Steven Spielberg, as well as the Emmy award winning Inheritance.
The epic Running the Sahara, produced and narrated by Matt Damon, followed three ultra marathon runners across the African continent. Grammy winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Price for Peace, Farmland and the upcoming OBEY, a biography of American artist and muralist Shepard Fairey, are recent projects of note. Done’s other notable documentary D.P. credits include Above and Beyond, Vows of Silence, From a Whisper to a Roar, and the cult classic Trekkies.
In addition to his extensive cinematography work, Harris has also written, produced and directed several dramatic feature films including Purgatory Flats, Storm starring Martin Sheen and the award-winning Sand Trap. He has also directed the documentaries War Dogs of the Pacific and Always Faithful.
Dr. Michael White – Narrator, Composer; Jazz Studies, Xavier University
Dr. Michael White, clarinetist and composer in the New Orleans Style jazz, is a professor of African-American Music and holds the Keller Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Xavier University, New Orleans.White is a prolific recording artist who has performed in more than two dozen countries, made many national TV appearances, and given countless interviews. He is also a jazz historian who lectures on the tradition. Much of his early research dealt with his ancestor, Papa John Joseph, a musician at the dawn of jazz.
White’s clarinet sound is distinguished by his roaming melancholy in the “widow’s wail” during jazz funerals and the soaring lyricism in the “cutting loose” parade, releasing the soul from earthly ties. He has played with many important artists over the years, including Ernest “Doc” Paulin, Danny Barker, and George “Kid Sheik Cola” Colar. White’s rich voice on clarinet is featured on recent recordings by several legends of popular music — Wynton Marsalis, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Paul Simon, and Marianne Faithful. Throughout the 1990’s Michael White recorded a variety of records with multiple record labels including 1992’s New Year’s Eve Live at The Village Vangaurd (Antilles).With the New Orleans label, Basin Street Records, he has released a string of works featuring his clarinet solos, A Song for George Lewis (2000), Jazz from the Soul of New Orleans (2002), Dancing in the Sky (2004), the post-hurricane Katrina reflective Blue Crescent (2008), and the two part Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Parts 1 & 2 (2011, 2012).
Michael White has received many awards, including the Chevalier of Arts & Letters from the French government in 1995, the 2008 Heritage Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts (the nation’s highest award in the traditional and folk arts), the 2010 Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Humanist of the Year. He also garnered a Jazz Hero Award 2015 from the National Association of Jazz Journalists; and the 2015 Deems Taylor liner notes award from ASCAP for the Smithsonian brass band CD that he produced, wrote the liner notes, and on which he performed, and composed a song. Michael White has forged a distinguished musical legacy as one of the authoritative figures on New Orleans Jazz.
Deb Cotton – Associate Producer; Independent Journalist and Blogger, Gambit Weekly
When Deb “Big Red” Cotton moved to New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, she wanted to write about food. With a background in journalism and union work in California, she had a hunger for life that pulls people to this disaster-prone city where the music never stops and politics is a wayward bus. “Big Red Cotton” became a Gambit blogger, covering the second line parades for Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs.
In 2007 she published Notes from New Orleans, a grand book with a voice to echo across time. Born in Los Angeles in 1965 to a black father and Jewish mother, Cotton spent her formative years in Oklahoma City with her father’s family, reconnecting later with her mother in California; she graduated from San Francisco State. She converted to Judaism, her mother’s faith. Jewish and black, scourge of bad politicians and champion of the second line, Deb Cotton was a life force.
“With each second line that rolled down Ursulines Avenue, New Orleans lured me from my dark brooding funk and tossed me into the fire of dancing Black folks and brass instruments bobbing down the street, burning, sweating, marching from one end of town to the other. This went on every week for months until one day, between the parades and sessions with my shrink and onset of Spring, I began to feel alive again. And the haunting images of dead floating bodies faded away,” Deb said. “This is the beauty – and the problem – with living in New Orleans. At any given moment, life and death change places with each other when you least expect it.”
During the now infamous 2013 Mother’s Day Parade, Deb was one of 18 people hit in the crossfire of a gang shooting. After 36 surgeries, she stood in federal court, arguing for sentences to allow midlife rehabilitation for the brothers charged in the shooting. Her call for forgiveness and a policy to reach youth on edge gave life to the meaning of mercy in a Shakespearean sense, blessing she who gives and he who receives. An inspiring presence, she died in May, 2017 of residual infection.
George Ingmire – Sound Mixer/Recordist
George Ingmire has been a media producer since 1999. He holds a B.A. in anthropology and a M.F.A. in film production, both from the University of New Orleans. He can be heard weekly on WWOZ (Wednesdays from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. CST), where he programs the “New Orleans Music Show.” From 2008 to 2016, he produced internationally syndicated radio programs, “New Orleans Calling”/“New Orleans All the Way Live”, about the music, food and culture of the Crescent City.
In film, he has worked as a sound mixer/recordist for directors that include Spike Lee, Barbara Kopple and Harry Shearer, in New Orleans, as well as Haiti, Peru, Bahamas, Mexico and Columbia. His personal film work includes Think of Me First as a Person, an eight-minute documentary about a boy with Down Syndrome — one of only 25 films to be recognized by the National Film Registry (Library of Congress) in December of 2006.
Jay Weigel – Score Composer
www.jayweigel.com | www.scoreneworleans.com
Jay Weigel is a distinguished composer, producer, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, and contractor for film, television, recordings, and concerts. Based in New Orleans, he has worked in the film and television industry for over 30 years. His recent scores and soundtrack recordings can be heard in the Warner Brothers films including, The Campaign, Green Lantern, Grudge Match, Get Hard, and Midnight Special; over seven of Tyler Perry’s films and TV series Too Close To Home, including For Colored Girls, Meet the Browns, Madea Witness Protection, and Madea Goes to Jail; HBO’s Little Britain; I Love You Phillip Morris, Bullet to the Head; and numerous documentaries and independent films.
He has worked as an orchestrator, conductor, contractor and/or score preparer for composers such as George S. Clinton, Christopher Young, David Wingo, Jon Swihart, Christopher Lennertz and Terence Blanchard. As an arranger and orchestrator, he has worked with REM, Chris Thomas King, Judith Owen, and several projects with Hal Willner. Weigel just finished producing a CD of music by Paul Sanchez. His concert work has been commissioned by numerous symphonies around the world, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Louis Cathedral, University of Southern Mississippi Symphony, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and the Acadiana Symphony.
Fred Johnson, President of Black Men of Labor
Fred Johnson grew up in and around New Orleans’ Seventh Ward. As a child he was fortunate to experience firsthand the riches of the heart of New Orleans African American culture; Parade clubs, Black Indians, Brass Bands and its musical, social and economic by-products. Fred first masked Indian at the age of 13 with Chief Tootie and the Yellow Pocahontas. He served as Spy Boy for 17 years, fulfilling the huge daily spiritual, physical and financial commitment which truly being an Indian demands; designing and sewing suits year around, practices, the musical and vocal traditions, all culminating in coming out on Mardi Gras Day and St. Joseph’s Night. For almost over 2 decades with Tambourine and Fan; the community organization dedicated to providing an alternative to drugs for local youth through immersion in cultural and character building; Fred mentored and encouraged many young men, who today are active members of the cultural community. In 1993 Fred and musicians Benny Jones and Greg Stafford founded The Black Men of Labor Parade Club. BMOL focus is on preserving the history and culture of traditional Jazz music which is passed on from generation to generation. With its 20 members, The Black Men of Labor has consistently produced an annual parade which attracts hundreds of diverse people each year in a most peaceful and jovial atmosphere. The BMOL seek to preserve traditional New Orleans Jazz by hiring musicians that play New Orleans Jazz Music as it was performed by such great Brass Bands as the Olympia, the Onward, the Tuxedo and the Eureka. It is the belief of the BMOL that more than any other single element of New Orleans culture, traditional New Orleans Jazz music is responsible for the City’s worldwide fame.
Over the years Fred has participated in numerous interviews and documentaries, freely giving his valuable historical knowledge and unique insight. A creator and preserve of culture, a mentor, a community leader, a father and grandfather; Fred Johnson’s life and achievements have made an indelible mark on the culture of New Orleans. As he goes forward, Fred continues to hold fast to his commitment to help people achieve wealth through homeownership and the traditions and ideals of the culture which created him.
Monique Moss, Congo Square Creative Director
A native of New Orleans, Monique Moss is a Choreographer, Independent Curator, History Tour Guide, and Artistic Director of Third Eye Theatre Interdisciplinary and Improvisational Performance Company. She received a BA in French, MA in Latin American Studies, MFA in Interdisciplinary Dance Performance from Tulane University, and a MA in Museum Studies from SUNO. She has presented research-based performance at the Magdalena Festival Cali, Columbia; Arts in Society Conference Venice; Microfest Hawaii, The Kennedy Center, Contemporary Arts Center, Houston Black Dance Festival, Congo Square Festival, Essence Festival, Fringe Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, NPN Annual Conference, Alternate Roots Festival, Ogden Museum, New Orleans African American Museum and New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old Mint. Her ethnographic research in Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cuba, France, Spain and Brazzaville, Kongo has been presented at the River Road African American Museum, The Historic New Orleans Collection Williams Research Center, New Orleans Jazz Museum, Haitian Studies Association Conference, Latin American Resource Center, Tulane University and Xavier University Institute for Black Catholic Studies. Producer of the International Haitian Arts and Culture Exchange and Congo to Congo Square Dance and Drum Consortium in New Orleans, Moss has also held several artist residencies and curated multi-disciplinary exhibitions. She coproduced the film Silent Parade directed by William Cordova and choreographed the Congo Square segment in City of a Million Dreams. An adjunct professor in Dance at Tulane University for eleven years, Moss is a founding member of Krewe du Kanaval. She has received awards and research grants from the Smithsonian NMAAHC, Fulbright-Hays Teacher Fellowships to Japan and South Africa, LDOA, Kellogg Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Tulane University Office of the Dean, Newcomb Institute, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, and the Big Easy Classical Arts Awards in Dance and Choreography.
Titos Sompa, Congo Square Musical Director and Choreographer
A supremely gifted singer, composer, recording artist, choreographer, storyteller, artisan of African folk crafts, producer, director, trainer, and teacher, founded the first Congolese dance company (Tanawa Dance Company) in America. He joined the New York dance and theater scene, and performed with James Earl Jones and Ann Miller, along with such jazz greats as Elvin Jones, Eddie Jefferson, Sun Ra, Ron Carter, Leon Thomas, Pharaoh Sanders, Dave Murray, Arthur Blythe, Olu Dara, and Chico Freeman, among others, before relocating in California where he became a magnet for the Congolese artistic community. Over the years he has trained and nurtured numerous Congolese artists, including Mbemba Jean Louis, Malonga Casquelourd, and Samba Ngo, as well as Fred Simpson, Oba Babatunde, and Monte Hallison, who later became masters in their own right. In 1988, Mr. Sompa founded Mbongi Dance Theatre Project, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing and celebrating the cultural arts of Africa, especially the music and dance of the Congo. In October 2020, Mr. Sompa fulfilled a lifelong dream to relocate to New Orleans, Louisiana to share his knowledge and art in America’s “most African city.”
Key Crew
Andrea Queeley, Voiceover Artist and Consultant
Alison Parker, Costume Designer for the Congo Square Sequence
Philip Braun, Videographer
Jake Springfield, Videographer
Crista Rock, Videographer
Sazerac Sound
Kyoto Color
Historical Advisors:
Bruce Boyd Raeburn (Director of Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University)
Monique Moss (Historian, Choreographer, Professor of Dance at Tulane University, Creative Director of this film’s Congo Square Reenactment)
Emily Suzanne Clark (Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University)
Freddi Evans (independent scholar; author of Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans)
Richard Campanella (Architecture/Geography, Tulane University)
William Ferris (Associate Director, Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Full Credits
Directed and Produced by Jason Berry
A SPIRIT TIDE
production
in association with Bernard F. Pettingill Jr., PhD
based on the book
City of a Million Dreams
by Jason Berry
Featuring the music of Dr. Michael White, Gregg Stafford, and John Boutté
Editor Tim Watson
Co-Producer Simonette Berry
Advisory Producer & Jazz Score Composition Dr. Michael White
Advisory Producer Deborah Cotton
Director of Photography Harris Done
Sound Recordist George Ingmire
Congo Square Sequence Creative Director Monique Moss
Special thanks to The Historic New Orleans Collection
Selections from Notes from New Orleans and other writings by Deborah Cotton voiced by Andrea Queeley
Louisiana Creole translations from the book Creole by Sybil Kein Vintage second line and jazz funeral footage by Jules Cahn Made possible with the support of
The Ford Foundation
Michael Arata
Davis Dauray Family Fund John Powell
Harry Shearer The California Fund
Jeff Anderson
Paige Royer and Kerry Clayton Baton Rouge Area Foundation Roberta Garza
Dennis Vitrella
James Carville and Mary Matalin Robert E. Couhig Jr.
Walter Issacson
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Stephen C. Rubino
Chase Family Foundation Cahn Family Foundation Fred and Lynn Lyon
Larry and Karin Giger Eustis Bishop Joe Morris Doss Barbara and Edwin Beckman Jim Lambert
Linda Usdin
Frederick Starr
Jack Laborde and Susan Couvillon
Almar Foundation Jim Brown
Featuring
Dr. Michael White Deborah “Big Red” Cotton Gregg Stafford
Fred Johnson Danny Barker Bruce Raeburn Sybil Kein Titos Sompa Milton Batiste Harold Dejan Linda Usdin
Mark Hertsgaard Charles Davis
Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr.
The White Eagles Big Chief Jake Millon The Creole Wild West
Cara Harrison
Yellow Fever Newspaper Voice: Don Paul Philip Frazier
Lolis Edward Elie Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen Reverend Jerome LeDoux
Michaela Harrison Joselyn Anglin
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes Andrea Queeley
Edward Jackson III and the To Be Continued Brass Band
Ed Buckner and the Original Big Seven Social Aid and Pleasure Club Black Men of Labor Social Aid & Pleasure Club: Fred Johnson,
Gregg Stafford, Rudy Pichon, Gralen Banks, Bruce Barnes, Johari Moses, Joseph Robinson, Glenn Johnson, Malcolm Williams, Townsley Hamilton, Omo Moses,
Sean Edgerson, Willie Johnson, Benny Jones, Todd Higgins
Co-Producer Tim Watson
Written by
Jason Berry, Simonette Berry, and Tim Watson
Consulting Producer Doug Blush
Production Designer Simonette Berry
Music Producer and Score Composition Jay Weigel
Camera
Philp Braun
Jake Springfield Ian Cook
Bruno Doria Alexander Glustrom Lily Keber
Crista Rock Isaac Webb Joe Sanford
Jason Brad Berry
J.R. Thomason Ben Long Ed Ball
Zac Manuel Tim Watson
Simonette Berry David Whatley Jason Berry
Additional Sound Recordists Michael Felton Jeremy Cooker
Congo Square Segment:
Unit Production Manager: Simonette Berry
Assistant to Simonette Berry: David Whatley
1st Assistant Director: Sue Young Kim
Key 2nd Assistant Director: Sean O’Regan
Lead Choreographer: Monique Moss
Musical Directors and Choreographers Titos Sompa
Seguenon Kone Jean-Claude Biza (Sompa)
Congo Square Musicians Titos Sompa
Seguenon Kone Jean-Claude Biza (Sompa)
Sekou “Pablo” Dembele Vado Diomande
Caph Guei
Armel Mampouya Luther S. Gray Bill Summers
Congo Square Principal Performers Jarrell Hamilton Seguenon Kone
Jean-Claude Biza (Sompa)
Congo Square Dancers Tiffany Hughes Knighten Rhaina Foxx
Tina M. Green Adrian M. Lindsey Jazz Johnson Giselle R. Nakhid Tyson J. Randolph
Michelle N. Gibson, the Artist Constance S. Thompson Shangobunmi Durotimi
2nd 2nd Assistant Director: Marcus Brown Set and Background PA: Zoe Palmer
Set PA: Leah Thorkelson
Art Director, Scenic Artist: Shannon De Vergnette
Art Director: Jessica Keli Govea
Director of Photography and A Camera: Harris Done
B Camera and Behind the Scenes Camera: Philip Braun
B Camera: Alexander Glustrom
1st AC: Josef Hensgens
Sound Recordist: George Ingmire
Gaffer: Peter J. Shirer
Best Boy: Sean Finnegan
Electrician: Jonathan A. Thompson
Key Grip: T. Nick Leon
Best Boy: Lee McLemore Grip: Michael Trejo
Locations Manager: Jessica Keli Govea
Locations PA: Ethan Esteb
Set Decorator and Property Master: Alex Slocum
Set Dresser: Clementine Finlay
Lead Greensman: Daniel T. Cooke
On Set Greensman: Caleb Davis
Costume Designer: Alison L. Parker
Assistant Costume Designer: Monika Grist-Weiner
Key Costumer: Heather Woodlee
Costumer: Heidi Bayer
On set costumer/seamstress: Nicole Schmitt
Seamstress: Karen Clark
Key Makeup Artist: Alana Hogg Hairstylist: Miranda Welsh
Makeup Artist and Hairstylist: Crystal Broedel
Accountant: Kathleen Lynch
Key Craft Services and Catering: Alex McConduit Transportation: Allen Johnson
First Aid: Kris Butler
Background Casting Director: Jay DeFelice Still Photographer: Kathy Anderson
Historical Consultants:
Richard B. Allen, Richard Campanella, Emily Suzanne Clark, Charles and Kent Davis, Mary Lou Eichorn, Freddi Williams Evans, William Ferris, Samuel P. Floyd Jr., Sybil Kein, Monique Moss, Lawrence Powell, Bruce Raeburn, H. Kwabana Nketia, Jerah Johnson, Joseph P. Roach, Matt Sakakeeny, Dr. Michael White
Post-Production:
Publicist: David Magdael & Associates Inc.
Production Accountant: Dione Fernandez
Legal Representation:
Jeff Pastorek, Couhig Partners LLC
Ashlye Keaton, Esq. for Creative Control
Post-Production Post Production Facilities:
Ariel Montage
Editor, Deborah Cotton video blog scenes Marcelle Olivier
Post Production Assistance Helen Cressy
Post Production Sound Sazerac Sound, New Orleans
Supervising Sound Editor, Re-recording Mixer Matt Coby
Sound Editors Donald Flick Michael Gilbert Kimaree Long Billy Theriot
Foley Artist: Randell Rosenberg
Digital Intermediate Services provided by Kyotocolor Online Editor: Wendy Celeste
Digital Intermediate Color Grader: Bradley Greer Graphic Effects: Alexey Terehoff
Graphic Designer: Nicole LaBranche of LaBranche Designs
Post-Production Associate Producer: Lauren Cargo
Music Rights Supervisor: Joel. C. High, creative control Entertainment Music Coordinator: Sami Posner
Music Assistants: Mia Zeidler, Emin Baghoomian, Brendan Ristau
Footage Courtesy of:
The Jules Cahn Collection, courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection Deborah Cotton interview by John Richie
Parade blog videos by Deborah Cotton Crista Rock Productions
Deborah Cotton interview from Getting Back to Abnormal, a film by Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian and Paul Stekler Brent Joseph
Michelle L. Elmore Sylvester Francis David Jones
Don Perry Dominic Massa, WWL-TV
Carlos Valladares
Walter J. Brown Media Archives from the University of Georgia The University of South Carolina NewsFilm Archive
Prelinger Archives National Film Board of Canada
Aaron Walker Lily Keber
1997 funeral in New Orleans of Randall Watts courtesy of CNN
Archival images and photographs courtesy of:
The Historic New Orleans Collection, from the Jules Cahn Collection, photographs by Michael P. Smith, the L. Kemper and Leila Moore Williams Founders Collection, a Gift of
Ms. Kris Pottharst, a Gift of Ms. Sharon Means, a Gift of Ms. N. West Moss, a Gift of Joy Segura Photographs by Syndey Byrd courtesy New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic & Assistance Foundation The Tulane University Hogan Jazz Archive, the Ralston Crawford Collection, and the Louisiana Collection of the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
The Louisiana State Museum The New Orleans Jazz Museum
The American Italian Cultural Center archive, with special thanks to Sal Serio and Frank Maselli McNeese University
Louisiana State Library Loyola University Xavier University
Courtesy of Capital City Press/Georges Media Group, Baton Rouge LA: Linda Lacen obituary, The Times-Picayune, March 19, 1997
Donald Harrison Sr obituary, The Times-Picayune, December 3, 1998 Headline edition, “Catastrophic,” The Times-Picayune, August 30, 2005 Mother’s Day Shooting Graphic, New Orleans Advocate, May 13, 2013 Linda Lacen obituary, The Times-Picayune, March 19, 1997
“View of New Orleans 1726,” Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Province, France
“Battle of San Domingo,” by January Suchoski, 1803. Polish Army Museum, Warsaw
“Kitchen Ball at Sulphur Springs Virginia, 1838” by Christian Freidrich Mayr, courtesy of North Carolina Art Museum
“Osman the Swamp Maroon,” Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture New York Public Library
“Lynching” by Elizabeth Catlett Courtesy of Art Resource Inc.
“Liberty Monument, Canal Street” Courtesy of the City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library Alexander Allison Photograph Collection
Photographs courtesy of:
Thomas Cole
Julie Dermansky
Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco Bernard Hermann
Herman Leonard LLC Charles Lovell Robert Pollidori Tommy Staub
Pableaux Johnson Abdul Aziz
Eric Waters Peter Forest
Kathy Shorr, photo of Deborah Cotton from SHOT: 101 Survivors of Gun Violence in America Nolan Marshall for photo of St. Augustine High School band and Michael White in band Special thanks to Joselyn Anglin, Andrea Queeley, & Linda Usdin for photos of Deborah Cotton Special thanks to Lolis Eric Elie for photos of his father, Lolis Edward Elie
Special thanks to Cherice Harrison-Nelson for photos of Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr.
Special thanks to Lars Erdrigan for photo of John Robicheaux
Special thanks to Renee Lapeyrolerie for photo of James Brown Humphrey and students
Featured Artwork:
“The Children of Whitney” clay sculptures by Woodrow Nash The murals of Brandan B-Mike Odums and Studio Be
The beadwork of Big Chief Alfred Doucette Music
Recording of Musical Score Esplanade Studios
Engineered by Misha Kachkachishvili Featuring Alexey Marti
Music:
“A Ja Ja”
Traditional Performed by Kumbuka African
Dance & Drum Collective, Ausettua AmorAmenkum,
Jawana Simon, Naimah Zulu, Majeeda Snead, Jolie Singleton, Janet Evans, Shaka Zulu
“Tu Way Pocky Way” Traditional chant Performed at the funeral
of Big Chief Edwin Harrison
“I’ll Fly Away” Written by Albert E. Brumley
Performed by Dr. Michael White, Gregg Stafford and the
Young Tuxedo Brass Band at the funeral of Lolis Edward Elie
Published by the Albert E. Brumley & Sons
“Midnight Special” Traditional
Arranged by Dr. Michael G. White Performed by Dr. Michael G. White, Detroit Brooks, Kerry Lewis, Walter Harris, and Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown Published by MGW Jazz Publishing
& Patti Rae Music Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“Blue Crescent”
Written by Dr. Michael G. White Performed by Dr. Michael G. White, Steven Pistorious, Detroit Brooks, Roland Guerin, Shannon Powell Published by MGW Jazz Publishing, Patti Rae Publishing
Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“Just A Closer Walk With Thee” Traditional
Performed by Dr. Michael G. White and Gregg Stafford at the funeral of Louis Barbarin
“Bourbon Street Parade” Written by Paul Barbarin
Performed by Ernest “Doc” Paulin’s Marching Band
Published by EMI Unart Catalog Inc. Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways
“Just A Little While to Stay Here” Traditional
Performed by Gregg Stafford and the Treme Brass Band
“Comme Ci Comme Ca” Written by Dr. Michael G. White
Performed by Dr. Michael G. White, Nicholas Payton, Lucien Barbarin, Steven Pistorious, Detroit Brooks, Roland Guerin, Jason Marsalis Published by MGW Jazz Publishing, Patti Rae Publishing
Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“When All the Saints Come Marching In” Traditional
Performed by Paramount Jubilee Singers Courtesy of GHB Records/Jazzology
“Lay My Burden Down” Traditional
Performed at funeral of Edwin Harrison
“Ancestor Dance” Traditional
Arranged by Seguenon Kone
“London Canal Breakdown” Written by Dr. Michael G. White
Performed by Michael Gerard White, Steve Pistorious, Detroit Brooks,
Roland Guerin, Jason Marsalis, Troy Davis Published by MGW Jazz Publishing,
Patti Rae Publishing Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“Sonata in D Minor” Written by Domenico Scarlatti
Arranged by Jay Weigel Performed by Jesse Reeks Published by Music Of Melpomene
Courtesy of Carondelet Music Group
“Adieu, Notre Petite Table” From the opera “Manon” Written by Jules Massenet Arranged by Jay Weigel
Performed by Sarah Jane McMahon Published by Music of Melpomene Courtesy of Carondelet Music Group
“Garland of Flowers” Traditional
Performed by the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble
Courtesy of Stomp Off Records
“Panama”
Written by William Henry Tyres Performed by the
Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble Courtesy of Stomp Off Records
“Didn’t He Ramble” Traditional Performed by
Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band
“I’ll Fly Away” Written by Albert E. Brumley
Performed by Dr. Michael G. White, the Treme Brass Band, and the Black Men of Labor
Published by Alfred E. Brumley & Sons
“Amazing Grace” Traditional
Performed by the Treme Brass Band and the Black Men of Labor
“Katrina”
Written by Michael Gerard White Performed by Michael Gerard White, Nicholas Payton, Lucien Barbarin, Steve Pistorious, Detroit Brooks, Roland Guerin, Jason Marsalis Published by MGW Jazz Publishing, Patti Rae Publishing
Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“Mabele” Traditional
Arranged by Titos Sompa Performed by Titos Sompa and
Congo Square Dancers and Musicians
“Sunday Morning”
Written by Dr. Michael Gerard White Performed by Dr. Michael Gerard White, Nicholas Payton, Gregory Stafford, Lucien Barbarin, Steve Pistorious,
Detroit Brooks, Roland Guerin, Shannon Powell
Published by MGW Jazz Publishing, Patti Rae Publishing
Courtesy of Basin Street Records
“Kibunu” Traditional
Arranged by Titos Sompa Performed by Titos Sompa and
Congo Square Dancers and Musicians
“West Lawn Dirge” Written by Karl L. King Performed by the
Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble Courtesy Stomp Off Records
“Battle Hymn of the Republic” Written by Julia Ward Howe Performed by
Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band
“Flee as a Bird to the Mountain” Written by Mary Dana Shindler Performed by Colin Bray,
Dr. Michael White, Emil Mark, Gregg Stafford,
Reide Kaiser, Taff Lloyd Courtesy of Jazz Crusade Records
“Bugle Boy March” Written by Francis Myers
Performed by Alvin Alcorn, Alec Bigard, Big Bill Bissonnette, Jim “Tut” Tutnjian, Paul “Polo” Barnes, Sing Miller Courtesy of GHB Records/Jazzology
“Clarinet Marmalade”
Written by Eddie Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Anthony Sparbaro, and Larry Shields Performed by the
Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble Courtesy of Stomp Off Records
“American Soldier” Written by Francis Myers Performed by the
Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble Courtesy of Stomp Off Records
“This Little Light of Mine” Traditional
Performed by Fannie Lou Hamer Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways
“We Shall Overcome” Traditional
Performed by Dr. Michael White, Gregg Stafford and the
Young Tuxedo Brass Band
at the funeral of Lolis Edward Elie
“Indian Red” Traditional
Performed at the funeral of Big Chief Donald Harrison
“Shallow Water” Traditional
Performed at the funeral of Big Chief Donald Harrison
“Ise Olua” Traditional Yoruba
Performed by Michaela Harrison at the funeral of Deborah Cotton
“Gloryland” Traditional
Performed by the TBC Brass Band at the funeral of Deborah Cotton
“Remembering Deborah Cotton” Written by Dr. Michael G. White Performed by John Boutté,
Dr. Michael G. White, Shannon Powell, Detroit Brooks, Wendell Brunious, David Lee Harris, Mari Watanabe, Mark Brooks, Herlin Riley, Kirk Joseph
Special thanks for location access:
Whitney Plantation, A Museum of Slavery, John Cummings, Founder, Ashley Rogers, Director, and Dr. Ibrahima Seck, Research Director
St. Louis Cemeteries 1 and 2 Archdiocese of New Orleans Archbishop, Gregory M. Aymond, Sarah McDonald, Director of Communications, Sherri Peppo, Executive Director
New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries
Plaquemines Parish Government Former Parish President Amos Cormier, III, and Former Director of Operations, Rev. Michael Jiles
New Orleans Botanical Garden, Paul Soniat, Director Ama B. Rogan and A Studio In The Woods
Tulane University Hogan Jazz Archive Tulane Department of Theater and Dance Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club
Ed Buckner and the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club Nuthin’ But Fun Social Aid and Pleasure Club
TBC Brass Band
St. Augustine Catholic Church The Carver Theater
Jessica Govea
Jason Patterson and Snug Harbor
Special thanks to:
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Sheila Biddle
Rev. Jerome LeDoux William Ferris
The New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Mint David Kunian, Greg Lambousy
The Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University Melissa Weber, Lynn Abbott
The Ashé Cultural Arts Center
Daniel Hammer, Mary Lou Eichorn, and Rebecca Smith of The Historic New Orleans Collection Mark Samuel and Braden Piper with Basin Street Records
Document Records
Don Marshall and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Cherice Harrison-Nelson and Herreast Harrison
Donald Harrison Jr.
Cora Harrison
Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen and the Lacen family The family of Edwin Harrison
The family of Louis Barbarin The family of Lolis Edward Elie
The family and friends of Deborah Cotton Alison Fensterstock
Keith Frazier Philip Frazier
Maryse Dejean Ben Sandmel Deacon John James Carville
Video Veracity for fiscal sponsorship
Additional support:
Mike Fawer
James Hopkins and Patti LaSalle Bethany Ewald Bultman
Kickstarter Donors:
Roberta Garza, Stephen Rubino, Wayne Amadee, Brad Richard, Emilie Rhys, Darnell Shuart, Bill Bertrand, Laurie Lamar, Beth Parrott, Charles and Kent Davis, Deacon John, Sue Duffy, Darcy Scoggin, Diana Shaw, Jack M. Ruhl, Kathryn McCarroll, Paul Vickrey,Karen Sherman, Anne Seaman, Rodger Kamenetz, Lawrence N. Powell, Rebecca Theim, Anna Celenza, Katie Kleinsasser, Gardner Foster, Diane Fox in memory of Rick Fox, John Richie, Paul Schoen, Bob McKay, Jose Daniel Rodriguez, Carol Gelderman, Tom Smith, Gale Evans, Stephen Hanselman, Melissa Gregory Rue, Jon Kukla, Kathleen Burk,Tim McNally, David Marcello, Frances Kissling, John Guthrie, Michael Castleman, Kristin Littwin Gile, Carolyn Disco, Bryan Wagner, Tom Jackson, John Gregory Brown, Fred and Lynn Lyon, Kim Bledsoe Lloyd, Fr. Gregory Barras, Thomas Zigal, George Lipsitz, Don Paul, Jonathan Gould, Brett Noteware, Jonathan Pittman, Jessica Fortin, Timothy Halpin, Katherine Cecil, Melissa Miller, Robert and Marianne Fraulo Guenther, Margaret Linee Cosgrove, Mark Dowie, Peter Finney III, D Wolff, Michele Benoit and Glen Pitre, Chris Wiltz, Paul Lennon, Rosalie Ramm, Florida Booth, Judith Sachs, Roger Rathman, Michael Tisserand, Jonas Samuel Chartock, Louis Cockerham, Emily MacKenzie, Philip Bein, Ben Schenck, William Quigley, Lamar Berry, Matthew J. Martinez, Nicole Eiden, Chris Kunze, Jeffrey Haloff, Catherine McCracken, Philip Foster, the Jack Brass Band, Lindsay Hannah, John Hartmann, Cheryl Gerber, Cheryl Pochapin, Mary Katherine Aldin, Cara Kim, Becky Stein, Robert Bell, Susan Sorensen, Emily Clark, Yvette Landry, David La Breche, M. Goldin, Chuck Bauerlein, Denise Charbonnet, Peter J. LaPrade Jr., Stanley Taylor, Dennis Forbes, David Swan, Barbara Lamar, John Messina, Kimberly Moss, Drew and Liz Keiser, Helen Rincon, Scott McCraw, Brendan McDonald, Ted Moree, Laura Van Aken, Olivier Saut, Mia Bruno, Billy Theriot, Gerald Peary and Amy Geller, S.P. Borne, Allan Selman, Steven Kiviat, Ed Conroy, Ilyssa Parker, Susan Bernofsky, Ama Rogan, Stephen F Rose, Peggy Scott Laborde, Ben Berman, Carolyn Long, It’s New Orleans, Monica Miranda, Rives Sexton, Martin Yant, Ann Banks, Philip Braun, Dean Brown, Finnian Carstens, Dean Ellis, Peryn St. Raymond, Jose Tijam, Rob Ganger, Angela Tucker, Scott Billington, Pamela French, Joe Lou, Chrison Thompson, Paul and Caroline Vickery, Ryan Holliday
Special thanks to the people of Louisiana
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