Back in the early 90’s driving in New York City I heard the Lester Young/ Francois Postif interview on Phil Schaap’s Birdflight. Listening to Pres tell his story, I flashed on a film constructed from this document. As a musician and filmmaker, I thought that the interview would provide some form to the film much like chord changes imply a tune. I got in touch with Mr. Postif who directed me to Michel DeLorme. DeLorme had purchased the rights from Postif and was intending to put out a record of European air checks of Lester’s that he had uncovered. He wanted to fill out the album with the Postif interview. The project never materialized so when I told Mr. DeLorme of my plans, he sold me the rights to the interview.
Billy Young Band, Minneapolis, 1927; Lester at far-right; courtesy of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers Univ.
Fast-forward a few years, I finished my Jack Kerouac film featuring a music track with Lee Konitz, Willie Alexander and Jim Doherty. Charles Olson was the next poetry film I undertook. I started in 1995 and completed it in 2007. It was funded with grassroots support. Previous to Olson and Kerouac I made a film about my poet uncle Vincent Ferrini. When Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place was completed I knew it was time for Prez.
As a filmmaker I work more like a documentary photographer. I once heard someone refer to the hunting of an image as “shooting quail.” You have to be ready and open to capture the experience and you only have the moment to bag it. Similarly I find myself waiting for that moment to happen. The Hollywood paradigm is anathema to my process. I go out into the field alone maybe with an assistant or sound person looking for those moments that resonate for me vis-à-vis my subject. My films are constructions of a million moments. Check out the Junior Mance interview (blog post March 15, 2010). His remembrance of Lester’s funeral is nothing that could be set up, like an unplanned improvisation it happens.
