Keep on Keepin' On

"You got to stay in there and battle"...

The premise of this documentary - the mentoring relationship between jazz great Clark Terry and aspiring pianist Justin Kauflin - lends itself to the heart-warming category. However, as the story unfolds and we learn more about the struggles being faced by both men with their health (and nerves in Kauflin's case), we are given an insight to the strength of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

"Keep on Keepin On" is a documentary that beautifully depicts the relationship between iconic trumpet player Clark Terry, and his protégé, aspiring 26 year old pianist Justin Kauflin. In an interesting parallel, Kauflin went blind at a young age, and aging Terry ("CT") is in the process of losing his sight from diabetes.

An intimate and small scale documentary that chooses to focus on the personnel moments rather than the grand, Keep On Keepin' On is a lovely look into the way music affects people's lives and a fitting piece of memorability for the recently passed away Jazz legend Clark Terry.Without professing to know much or in fact anything about the Jazz scene, Keepin On does a great job at making the audience feel a part of this musical movement thanks to Australian filmmaker Alan Hick's steady direction and Clark's wholly infectious love for the genre of music.

I managed to see this documentary on Netflix streaming. With lots of contributors it features Clark Terry, one of the more famous and revered trumpet players of all time, and an unknown, blind 20-something pianist, Justin Kauflin.

We saw the film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film documents the life of Clark Terry a master jazz musician and inspirational teacher of many famous musicians including Quincy Jones and Miles DavisThe true story about Clark includes one of his students, Justin Kaufman, a young jazz pianist who is blind and extremely talented.

This is a heart-warming, even encouraging film. I saw it this afternoon at the SB Int.

First, let me say that I don't even particularly like jazz.And I am a rather grumpy individual who is really not a people person.

This film will tug at your heart strings. Clark Terry is a beautiful human being who has made a difference one person, one note, at a time.