Keep On Keepin' On (2014)

 

I often give up on a series or movies if I've not been encouraged by others to stick with it or if the content itself isn't promising. Quite frequently, I will stumble across a keeper by accident as I did with the 2014 documentary Keep On Keepin' On, the story of the friendship between the now-deceased legendary jazz trumpeter Clark Terry and then 25-year-old, blind, aspiring pianist Justin Kauflin, whom Terry mentored. Terry, who died the year after this film was released, had a reputation for being an inspiring teacher, counting among his proteges Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, who produced the film and Kauflin's first record. Aside from being a touching portrait of a man of great talent and generosity in the last year's of his life, Keep On Keepin' On is also a primer on jazz music, its modes and aesthetics. It's a wonderful, humane tribute.