My name is Antoine Roney, I am a Jazz musician.
I have performed and recorded with many great Jazz artists such as Elvin Jones, Wallace Roney and Freddie Hubbard and was personally mentored by Jazz Legend, Alto Saxophonist Jackie Mclean. I am currently working on a documentary project presenting a juxtaposition of acoustic jazz and indigenous music from Africa.
To give you a bit of historical background, “Jazz” music was created in the United States. African culture is deeply steeped in the original foundation of this music. The Blues is an expression derived from work songs (field hollers, call and response) spirituals (ceremonials). James P. Johnson notated these expressions and created the Blues form. The Blues element is the link between Jazz and African music. Even today as jazz has progressed, it has always retained the African element of the blues.
In recent years, I have traveled through various parts of West Africa and had the opportunity to interact and share music with people from different local communities. It was an incredible experience: I had the good fortune to collaborate and perform with many accomplished, local musicians. One finding that permeated all these different impressions was the realization that the ‘Spirit of Blues’ expression is the ‘language’ link between Jazz and African music.
Sadly, none of these initial explorations were ever documented but my Jazz Trio returned to Ghana last year and we had a chance to create video footage of our stay there. The trip was completely self- funded: it turned out to be rather difficult due to a tight time schedule, hostile terrain and some band members having trouble getting acclimated to the living conditions and intense heat.
In spite of those challenges, we were able to obtain some great footage of the band but because of a very limited budget, we were unable to hire a professional camera and sound crew. This prevented us from documenting this experience on a superior level.
Our mission is to create a powerful audio/visual document of bringing Jazz music back to Africa on the level of its advanced evolution. We intend to showcase the inherent communication between Jazz music and African culture and consider this documentation essential for the future comprehension of Jazz music history in relation to its African roots. The completed documentary and its accompanying sound recordings will be made available for historical and educational lectures and for jazz and music education in the U.S. and around the world.
Your donations are essential in helping fund the proper production of this project to pay for:
- air travel,
- local transportation,
- accommodations,
- camera and sound crew,
- as well as basic financial aid to the local African communities that will help and guide us.
Your help is deeply appreciated!
Sincerely,
Antoine Roney
