Louis: A Silent Film
with live musical performance by
Wynton Marsalis & Cecile Licad
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 AT 8PM
This performance is presented without an intermission
Wynton Marsalis: Music Director, Trumpet
Cecile Licad: Classical Piano
Andy Farber: Conductor
Carlos Henriquez: Bass
Jason Marsalis: Drums
Adam Birnbaum: Piano
Alexa Tarantino: Alto, Soprano and Piccolo Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet
Daniel Block: Alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute
Jarien Jaramilla: Tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
James Carter: Alto sax, soprano sax
Dion Tucker: Trombone
John Allred: Trombone, Sousaphone
Ashlin Parker: Trumpet
Sidney Hopson: Percussion
Louis: A silent film (2010)
Rated R – under 17 with parent or adult guardian
Dan Pritzker: Director, Writer
Wynton Marsalis & Louis Moreau Gottschalk: Music
Vilmos Zsigmond: Cinematographer
LOUIS is a silent film, written and directed by Dan Pritzker and shot by Oscar®-winning cinematographer, the late Vilmos Zsigmond. Pre-eminent jazz musician, Wynton Marsalis and 19th century American composer, Louis Moreau Gottschalk provide the score.
LOUIS pays homage to Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, beautiful women and the birth of jazz. The grand Storyville bordellos, alleys and cemeteries of 1907 New Orleans provide a backdrop of lust, blood and magic for 6-year-old Louis (Anthony Coleman) as he navigates the colorful intricacies of life in the city. Young Louis’s dream of playing the trumpet is interrupted by a chance meeting with a beautiful and vulnerable girl named Grace (Shanti Lowry) and her baby, Jasmine. Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Little Children) in a performance reminiscent of the great comic stars of the silent screen, plays evil Judge Perry who is determined not to let Jasmine's true heritage derail his candidacy for governor. Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy) is Perry’s all-too-willing henchman, Pat McMurphy.
Pritzker was writing a screenplay about the legendary first man of jazz, Buddy Bolden when he saw Charlie Chaplin’s silent film City Lights with the Chicago Symphony performing the score live. “It floored me. I’d never seen a film on a big screen with live music, and it occurred to me to make a silent film about jazz,” said Pritzker.
“The story of a little boy in early 1900’s New Orleans who wants to play the trumpet seemed well suited to a silent film. The birth of jazz, where the pictures and the music would tell the story, seemed an obvious path the minute it crossed my mind and since I'd never made a film before, I wasn't burdened by any notion of what I'd be up against trying to pull it off. I resisted the temptation to adhere to the technical parameters of movies made prior to 1930, such as 4:3 aspect ratio and fixed camera positions. We did “under-crank” the camera to 18 frames per second in order to give the film a somewhat sped up and slightly jittery feel reminiscent of films from the silent era, but other than that, we used modern equipment and techniques.”
Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond had commented, “This was a very interesting project for me because I always wanted to do a silent film, and these days it’s highly unusual for one to be made. I also love working in black-and-white. Today’s black-and-white film isn’t as good as color when it comes to grain and texture,” he says. “To do a real black-and-white film, it’s better to start in color and then take the color out.
With the score being such an integral part of silent film in providing many of the emotional cues, it was important for the actors to work with the music both in rehearsal and on the set. Wynton Marsalis led recording sessions in New York with an array of stellar players including Wycliffe Gordon, Victor Goines, Marcus Printup, Ted Nash, Carlos Henriquez and Ali Jackson.
“Wynton was such a perfect and obvious choice when thinking about the music for the film that I didn’t really think he’d do it,” says Pritzker. Producer Jon Cornick was more optimistic. Pritzker continues, “We invited Wynton to dinner in New York, and on the way there Jon and I discussed how we’d approach him. It was important to me that Wynton knew I wasn’t making a biopic – Armstrong’s adult life has been microscopically dissected and publicized, and I wasn’t interested in taking that approach. This was going to be a silent film about jazz – kind of whimsical, although there are certainly real elements of Armstrong’s early life in the storyline. Fortunately for me, the mythical approach and the silent film genre were both attractive to Wynton and he came on board.”
“The idea of writing music to a silent film, telling the tale of a young Louis Armstrong really appealed to me,” says Marsalis. “Of course, calling it a silent film is a misnomer — there is plenty of music, and jazz is like a conversation between the players so there’s no shortage of dialogue. The score moves between my music and the music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. The contrast between Gottschalk’s music and jazz can be a revelation to those unfamiliar with either, or both.”
LOUIS, set in 1907 New Orleans, tells the story of a young boy born into poverty who dreams of playing the trumpet.
The action takes place in “The District” – the section of New Orleans dedicated to pleasure and violence. This bastion of lust, blood and magic is home to our hero, Louis, the 6-year-old son of a young prostitute. Hawking coal and playing his toy horn on the back of the Karnofsky brothers’ coal cart, little Louis observes the swirl of humanity.
His heroes are musical gunslingers: musicians that wield their instruments and engage in “Cutting Contests” where opposing outfits go toe-to-toe in musical warfare.
While admiring a shiny trumpet in the window of a pawnshop, Louis sees a beautiful woman and her baby being harassed by a drunk. Louis vanquishes the drunk and develops an instant friendship with Grace and her baby girl, Jasmine. When Louis escorts Grace and Jasmine home he learns that Grace lives and works in Mahogany Hall – “the grandest sportin’ house in The District”.
Soon after, Louis finds out that Grace’s rivals are plotting against her. Tensions mount when Louis gets involved in a plot led by the evil overlord of The District, Judge Perry, concerned that baby Jasmine’s true heritage could derail his candidacy for governor.
In the end Louis must sacrifice his prized trumpet to save his friends – but it’s only a temporary loss…