Part of the secondary devastation caused by Hurricane Kathrina in New Orleans in 2005 was that the city became silent as musicians from the Crescent City scene were scattered into all directions. British Renee Edwards’ was formerly an editor and “One Note at a Time” is her debut feature documentary telling the fascinating story of the musicians’ return home, breathing new life into the soul of the metropolitan city in Mississippi. The film shooting, self-financed to a large degree, lasted four years, for which Edwards got both prominent and less prominent musicians like Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Ellis Marsalis, Kermit Ruffins and Shelton »Shakespear« Alexander in front of the camera to illustrate a portrait of the city’s unique spirit. This story is linked to the story of the »New Orleans Musicians´ Clinic«, an unusual but highly necessary health initiative. The premise: those who want to keep music alive need to deal with the musicians’ precarious living conditions.
Franziska Buhre works as a freelance journalist in Berlin for the newspaper “tageszeitung“, the broadcasting company SWR and “Sonic” magazine, amongst others. She is co-initiator of “Neue Jazzforschung” and regularly writes about improvised music and portrays international musicians in her blog “mellowtown.de”. Buhre studied contemporary dance and dance science and teaches yoga as well as Lindy Hop.
