Presents… IN THEATERS 02/15/19 & ON DEMAND 3/15/19 DISTRIBUTOR: Blue Fox Entertainment DIRECTED BY: T.G. Herrington & Danny Clinch WRITTEN BY: T.G. Herrington CAST: Preservation Jazz Hall Band PRODUCED BY: Nicelle Herrington, Han Soto GENRE: Documentary / History / Music Not Rated - Run Time: 82mins LANGUAGE: English COUNTRY: United States YEAR: 2019 WEBSITE: https://www.atubatocuba.com/ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/A-Tuba-to-Cuba-175186153278096/ TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: @ATubaToCuba TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx4ceFAN_3c&t=2s PRESS MATERIALS https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pncnkrfrj9otslq/AABhXIoHc_V7A2DrRc40AEpUa?dl=0 Media Contact: Richard Stafford , Blue Fox Entertainment Phone: 310-384-5753 Email: [email protected] Featuring PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND BEN JAFFE (Bass, Tuba), CHARLIE GABRIEL (Saxophone, Clarinet), WALTER HARRIS (Drums), CLINT MAEDGEN (Saxophone), RONELL JOHNSON (Trombone), Rickie Monie (Piano), Mark Braud (Trumpet) w/ WIN BUTLER and REGINE CHASSAGNE of ARCADE FIRE WORLD PREMIERE at the SXSW Film Festival LOS ANGELES PREMIERE at the DTLA Film Festival WINNER Louisiana Doc Award — New Orleans Film Festival WINNER Best Cinematography — TallGrass Film Festival WINNER Jury Award Best Film — Fairhope Film Festival EAR SHOT JAZZ Series — Northwest Film Forum “Likely to become a classic of the musical documentary genre.” - Austin Chronicle "The verdict? We are one place and one people, born to combat despair, oppression and poverty with ingenuity, humor, and the music that transcends all of it." - Deadline Hollywood “Wonderful footage from a live performance at the historic Teatro Terry, with members of Tumba Francesa joining them onstage, underscores the bridge that has been built..” - Austin American-Statesman "A Tuba to Cuba celebrates the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to dig deeper; to find that common ground we all have inside us, and there, resolve to build bridges, not walls." - SXSW Film Festival SHORT SYNOPSIS: A TUBA TO CUBA follows New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band as they trace their musical roots from the City of Jazz to the shores of Cuba. LONG SYNOPSIS: The leader of New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band seeks to fulfill his late father's dream of retracing their musical roots to the shores of Cuba in search of the indigenous music that gave birth to New Orleans jazz. A Tuba to Cuba celebrates the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to resolve to build bridges, not walls. “A Tuba To Cuba is not only a love letter to Cuba and New Orleans, but more importantly, to that “spirit”… That music, that lies deep inside all of us. Passed down to us by our mothers and fathers and the others that came before them. A gift that shapes our identity. Opens our eyes. Gives us a voice. Makes us feel…” -T.G. Herrington DIRECTORS STATEMENT “A Tuba To Cuba” began as a musical journey in search of the roots of jazz, but soon, its narrative began to reveal a deeper truth to us. Framed in the context of the tenuous US embargo of Cuba and the island's sixty years of isolation, New Orleans' famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band travels from the storied city of jazz to the shores of Cuba in search of their musical identities. There, while interacting with their fellow Cuban musicians... Living rooms, back alleys and cobbled stone streets soon bore witness to the power of meaningful connection. A connection transcending the barriers of language, politics, color and creed. As filmmakers this was an uplifting and joyful journey. We felt the need to leave politics, controversies and differences at the door. Instead, we chose to embrace all that was beautiful and whole about humanity. We feel this film captures the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to dig deeper. To find the common ground we all have inside, and there, firmly plant the flag of sister/brotherhood. “A Tuba To Cuba” is not only a love letter to Cuba and New Orleans, but more importantly, to that "spirit"... That music, that lies deep inside all of us. Passed down to us by our mothers and fathers and the others that came before them. A gift that shapes our identity. Opens our eyes. Gives us a voice. Makes us feel... And creates the want to heal. - Directors T.G Herrington & Danny Clinch PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history. PHJB marches that tradition forward once again on. So It Is, the septet’s second release featuring all-new original music. The album redefines what New Orleans music means in 2017 by tapping into a sonic continuum that stretches back to the city’s Afro- Cuban roots, through its common ancestry with the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and the Fire Music of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, and forward to cutting-edge artists with whom the PHJB have shared festival stages from Coachella to Newport, including legends like Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello and the Grateful Dead and modern giants like My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire and the Black Keys. MEET THE BAND BEN JAFFE Creative Director / Bass, Tuba The son of Hall founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, Ben was raised in and around Preservation Hall. Jaffe marched in his first Carnival parade at the age of nine alongside his father and parrain (godfather) Harold “Duke” Dejan. When he was thirteen, the lease on the building that housed the Hall was up for renewal. His father sat the family down and asked Ben whether they should continue. By 1984, many of the original musicians who had played at the Hall in its early days had passed away, yet the soul of the Hall remained the same. The young Jaffe replied, “Of course you continue!” Less than ten years later, the day after graduating from Oberlin College, Jaffe flew off to play upright bass with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in France and began overseeing operations at the Hall. He now serves as the Hall’s creative director and plays tuba (sousaphone), upright bass, and banjo in the band. Jaffe remastered and released several archival recordings of the early Preservation Hall Jazz Band, including some by Sweet Emma Barrett and Sister Gertrude Morgan. The band’s newer recordings include collaborations with the Blind Boys of Alabama, Pete Seeger, Tom Waits, Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Lenny Kravitz, the Edge, and many others. CHARLIE GABRIEL Saxophone, Clarinet Clarinetist, saxophonist, and flutist Charlie Gabriel is a fourth- generation jazz musician from New Orleans. Raised in a classically trained musical family that emigrated from Santo Domingo in the 1850s, Gabriel began playing clarinet professionally with the Eureka Jazz Band when he was eleven years old. During World War II, his father, clarinetist and drummer Martin Manuel “Manny” Gabriel often sent his son as a substitute on gigs. Charlie recalls how the musicians with whom he played —T-Boy Remy, Kid Humphrey, Kid Sheik, Kid Shots, Kid Clayton, and Kid Howard— also raised him and brought him home after the gigs. In a career spanning countless genres, Gabriel has performed with Tony Bennett, Frankie Avalon, Brenda Lee, Mary Wells, Eddie Willis, Joe Hunter, and many other early Motown artists. Gabriel sums up the influence of his fellow musicians: “I have many, many people inside of me that I have rubbed shoulders with, and I got something from each one of them. It’s all wrapped up inside of me, and by me still playing today and still able to go around the universe, I give to them all these other things I have from those that I have came in contact with.” CLINT MAEDGEN Saxophone Though Clint is best known as leader of multi-media alt.cabaret group The New Orleans Bingo! Show, he has been in love with the sound of traditional New Orleans jazz since he was a small child. After studying with clarinet innovator Alvin Batiste at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Clint returned to New Orleans’ French Quarter where he cemented his reputation as an artist and collaborator through an ongoing series of eclectic and experimental musical ensembles. As a full-time member of the PHJB, he brings an infectious passion to both his playing and singing. RONELL JOHNSON Trombone Born and raised in New Orleans, Ronell started on the trumpet and piano around the age of 6. He is from a musical family and was taught to play, in the beginning, by his three older brothers who are also professional musicians. Also, he and his brothers are the great-nephews of Joseph “Kid Twat” Butler, who was the string bass player with the legendary Kid Thomas Valentine and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Ronell is recognized around the world and in a host of magazines and journals as one of New Orleans’ prized musicians who adds a lot of energy, animation, humor, and fire to the band stand. Ben Jaffe remembers teaching Johnson at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA): “I can’t take credit for Ronell.