See Horn From The Heart At The Mill Valley Film Festival

ATTENTION: BAY AREA FANS! Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story is an official selection of the Mill Valley Film Festival!  The festival runs from October 5 to October 15, 2017, and Horn From The Heart will be shown on October 10th at 6:00pm (PDT), to be followed by a concert across the street from the theater at Sweetwater Music Hall & Cafe with special guests  to be announced. A second screening will be held on October 12th at 3:00pm (PDT).


Tickets go on sale to members of CFI (California Film Institute) on September 12th and to the general public on September 17th.

For festival information and tickets: http://www.mvff.com/http://www.mvff.com/

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SEE HORN FROM THE HEART AT THE LOGAN CENTER BLUESFEST IN CHICAGO

We are thrilled to announce that Horn From The Heart will be featured during the Logan Center Bluesfest being presented by the University of Chicago, October 13-15, 2017.

The Logan Center For the Arts is practically in the backyard of where Paul Butterfield grew up. The screening of HFTH will be on Sunday, October 15th @ 4:00pm CDT. There will also be a pre-screening performance with Corky Siegel and Sam Lay, and a post-screening Q&A panel currently scheduled to include the filmmakers, Sandy Warren and John Anderson, and Sam Lay, Mark Naftalin and Corky Siegel. 

Tickets are available now and they're FREE!

For Logan Center Bluesfest information: https://arts.uchicago.edu/logan-center-bluesfest

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2017 WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL: HORN FROM THE HEART EAST COAST PREMIERE SOLD OUT

The East Coast premiere of Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story, held on August 4, 2017 at the Woods Hole Film Festival, was sold out.  We had a super enthusiastic audience for the screening and for the Q&A afterwards, when John Anderson and Sandy Warren were joined by special guests, Blues and Jazz historian and New England Public Radio personality, Tom Reney, and harp player extraordinaire and front man of the James Montgomery Blues Band, James Montgomery.

http://plainvilleobserver.com/2016/11/18/bluesman-montgomery-salutes-legacy-of-paul-butterfield/

Tom devoted his August 2nd radio show "Jazz a la Mode" http://nepr.net/jazz-la-mode/ to Butterfield and James got up on stage for a cameo performance at the August 4th after-party that brought the house down!

Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story Wins Award At Newport Beach Film Fest

Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story has been awarded the award for Outstanding Achievement In Filmmaking: Editing at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

The complete article can be found below or at newportbeachfilmfest.com
 
 

Newport Beach, CA – April 27, 2017 – The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) announced today the winners of the 2017 Festival. On April 27, 2017, the Festival wrapped up its eight day run with the Southern California Premiere of THE EXCEPTION starring Christopher Plummer, Lily James and Jai Courtney at the Lido Theater (3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach) with the post party in the Via Lido Plaza. The Festival opened with the West Coast Premiere of Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton.

The Newport Beach Film Festival celebrated outstanding contribution to global cinema at a special event during the 18th annual Festival at the Balboa Bay Resort on April 22. Additionally, The Festival’s selection committee reviewed more than 2,500 films. The Festival screened over 350 films, representing 50 countries. The films competed for Jury, Festival Honors and Audience Awards. 

The 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival jury featured an impressive roster of film industry professionals, including Claire Best, CEO and owner of Claire Best & Associates, Hunt Lowry, producer and CEO/President of Rosework Films, Actor Robert Reed Carradine, Mike Repsch, Senior Vice President of Distribution and Sales at Breaking Glass Pictures, Arianne Rocchi, VP of Publicity at Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing, Larry Greenberg, Head of Acquisitions and Domestic Distribution for Ambi Media Group, Oscar Nominated writer/director Tom Van Avermaet, and Todd Slater, co-founder and partner at Blue Fox Entertainment.

Newport Honors Awards

Aishia tyler

Artist of Distinction Award

Aisha’s passion for volunteering and giving back to the community is reflected in her work beyond the lens. She has been involved in organizations such as Planned Parenthood, where she served on the board, the Trust for Public Land organization, International Rescue Committee, and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Aisha has dedicated significant time towards the Wounded Warriors Project, a charity that offers services and programs to wounded veterans and their families. In correspondence to the Wounded Warriors Project, Aisha has visited veterans at the Walter Reed hospital and has had a veteran on her podcast, “Girl on Guy”, to talk about his story and his sacrifices. We’re lucky to have Aisha’s new feature film, AXIS, which she directed, in our festival program this year. With all of her charitable contributions and her diverse array of talents in filmmaking, we’re proud to award her the Artist of Distinction Award at this years NBFF Honors.

NAT SANDERS AND JOI MCMILLON

BREAKOUT AWARD

Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon are film editors who have recently been nominated for an Academy Award on the Best Picture Winner Moonlight. With Joi’s nomination, she was the first African-American to be nominated for the Editing Category. Moonlight also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing, which was Nat’s second time receiving the award, the previous being the film Short Term 12. We congratulate both Nat and Joi for having a truly Breakout Out Year in film and we can not wait to see what they will do in the future.

EOIN MAKEN

ONE TO WATCH

Eoin is currently shooting season 4 of Sony/NBC’s hit summer series THE NIGHT SHIFT playing the lead character of “TC”. He was last seen in theaters starring opposite Milla Jovoich and Ali Larter in Screen Gems’ franchise RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER, written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Last year he was also seen in theaters starring opposite Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney in Focus Features’ THE FOREST directed by Jason Zada, as well as being seen on TV in National Geographic Channel’s Emmy nominated event series KILLING JESUS, starring opposite Stephen Moyer, Rufus Sewell and Kelsey Grammer.  Eoin also wrote, directed, and stars opposite Jack Reynor and Tom Hopper in the Independent feature LEOPARD which is available on Amazon.  He is also known for his work in the hit BBC series MERLIN starring as the swashbuckling hero “Gwaine”, and recurred on the fourth season of Showtime’s Emmy-winning series THE TUDORS.  He also starred opposite Emilia Fox in Mike Figgis’ SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF.   Eoin can add to his multitude of talents, accomplished novelist, having published his first book KINGDOM OF SCARS which was short-listed for the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards in 2014. 

2017 AUDIENCE AWARDS:

Feature Film – Don’t Tell

Foreign Film – Sami Blood (Sameblod)

Documentary – I’ll Push You

ACTION SPORTS – Under an Arctic Sky

Art, Architecture + Design – The Gamble House

FAMILY– Scales: Mermaids are Real

SHORT – Speechless

music – Man in the Camo Jacket

2017 JURY AWARDS

BEST FILM – Moon Dogs

Best Actor – Jack Parey Jones – Moon Dogs

BEST ACTRESS – Olivia Cooke – Katie Says Goodbye

Best Director – Len Collin – Sanctuary

Best Cinematography – Marden Dean – Boys in the Trees

Best Documentary – City of Joy

Best Documentary: honorable mention – Dateline – Saigon

BEST SCREENWRITER – Wayne Roberts – Katie Says Goodbye

SHORT FILMS

Best Narrative SHORT FILM – Enemies Within

Best Narrative SHORT FILM:HONORABLE MENTION: Thanks for Dancing

Best Documentary SHORT FILM – Refugee

Best Documentary SHORT FILM:HONORABLE MENTION – Seeing is Believing: Women Direct

Best AnimatED SHORT FILM – Second To None

Best AnimatED SHORT FILM: HONORABLE MENTION – Sisyphus

2017 FESTIVAL HONORS:

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: DIRECTING – Doug Nichol – California Typewriter

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FEATURE FILM – Axis – Aisha Tyler, Director

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FEATURE FILM – Score: A Film Music Documentary – Matt Schrader, Director

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – David Tennant – Mad To Be Normal

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Sam Elliott – The Hero

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Seána Kerslake – A Date For Mad Mary

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Olivia Holt – Class Rank

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: SCREENWRITING – Rick Darge – Zen Dog

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ENSEMBLE CAST – Heart, Baby – Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jackson Rathbone, Shawn-Caulin Young, Keir O’Donnell, Justice Leak, Shaun Brown, Ritchie Montgomery, Dana Gourrier, Quinton Aaron, Jamie Kennedy, Michael Badalucco, Abraham Benrubi , Big Freedia, Marcus Lyle Brown, Jay Huguley, Ann Cusack , Rick Shapiro , Gary Grubbs , Kerry Cahill, Tom Proctor

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FOREIGN FILM – Cardboard Gangsters

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: CINEMATOGRAPHY: Aerial Ireland

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: EDITING: Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story

SHORT FILMS

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – The Spa

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – Feeding Time

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – The Boy by The Sea (De Jongen Bij De Zee)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FORIEGN SHORT FILM – Night Dancing

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: DOCUMENTARYSHORT FILM – The Legendary Jerry G

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ANIMATED SHORT FILM – Ropes in Life (Cuerdas en la Vida)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: BREAKOUR PERFORMANCE – Wang Nan – Bao

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: MUSIC VIDEO – Kolshik

Attendance at the 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival was on par with last year’s record attendance of 50,000 people. The 18th annual Festival had the largest participation of International filmmakers and showcased films from over 58 countries with delegations attending from Australia, Germany, Ireland and Canada. The Newport Beach Film Festival is sponsored in part by City of Newport Beach, Visit Newport Beach, Foldies Folding Sunglases, Experian, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Celebrity Cruises, Fashion Island and Los Angeles Times.

Dave Hawkins Reviews: Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story

Originally appeared April 23rd on The Complete Paul Butterfield blog.
Photo from The Complete Paul Butterfield blog.

Photo from The Complete Paul Butterfield blog.

Every generation has its pop music heroes who briefly capture the imagination of the mainstream market with their catchy tunes. The marketing departments of record labels are always quick to provide fans with a shallow biography that employs descriptors like great or ground breaking, but most of that process is about crass commercialism rather the music. Unfortunately, too many of these heroes have careers that just bump and grind across the stage for what seems like only an hour or so before they disappear into the shadows, where they are heard no more.

Then there are our anti-heroes who recoil from that mainstream spectacle in favor the opportunity to create their art on the quieter periphery. It's in that place that they are more likely to create a body of music which resonates several generations of listeners who are not fooled by the mainstream antics. These artists often become the most significant contributors to popular music, rightfully earning descriptors like great and groundbreaking.  

A good example of this type of artist is America's first guitar hero Michael Bloomfield. When he is a comparatively obscure  guitarist in the mid-sixties, Bob Dylan offers him a lucrative position as the principal guitarist in his band, but the idealist rejects the offer with all the passion of a 19th century French artist who believes in l'art pour l'art. Bloomfield doesn't want the mainstream spotlight, he wants to practice his craft with the fledgling Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

There are many in the mainstream who think Bloomfield's decision is naive, maybe even unwise, but the virtuoso guitarist hears an energy coming out of Paul Butterfield many don't understand yet. He hears the band's 23 year old leader interpret urban blues with the skill of a journeymen communicating the urgency of someone about to commit murder or make love, but never in between. He knows that Paul Butterfield is the real deal, and is quick to publicly announce his commitment telling filmmaker Michael Lerner,  Butterfield is something else, he feels it. He's in there all the way. He is a blues singer. There is no white bullshit with Butterfield.  It is more than just an calculated endorsement from one a colleague to another. This is a recognition from a respected artist in his own right that Paul Butterfield is not just some white kid aping the songs of older blues men, but rather a man able to lead urban blues to the next step in its evolution.

If we compare early Butterfield band recordings with all other young blues bands of the era, we hear an artist reaching for a dream of transcending the confines of genre, race and all other convenient mainstream industry labels. It is a quality that surpasses technique, natural talent, and is intuitively recognized by the listener as something more emotionally complex. As Butterfield confides to one interviewer, The blues to me is any kind of music that has a heavy feeling. Music is a universal thing. You feel music, you play music. It doesn't belong to black man. It doesn't belong to a white man.  It isn't just the attitude of an artist as a young man that sets him apart from herd, but his desire to travel an ambitious road, one which will not always be paved. If Butterfield is to free himself from these shackles of the status quo, he will need to listen with big ears, employ immense  ingenuity, and demonstrate a unique ability to lead people toward the realization of his dream.

One of Paul Butterfield's most overlooked talents will be his strength as a bandleader. Similar to a few other great leaders like Duke Ellington, he consistently demonstrates an extraordinary ability to recognize skilled musicians, and lead them to a place where they want to create rather than decimate. Consider the numerous musicians he enlists for various incarnations of his Butterfield bands, and you should notice that many of them will permeate popular music for the next two generations, and make their own important contributions as influential instrumentalists, bandleaders, session players, songwriters, inventors. It is this overlooked talent as a leader that often denies Paul Butterfield recognition as one of the twentieth century's greatest bandleaders.

However, the most significant contribution of Paul Butterfield's legacy is his music. He starts out his career with a dream of a new music, and we now know from his body of work that he succeeded. We have eleven official albums which are always a very hip, yeasty blend of blues, rock, folk, jazz, R&B, gospel, all of it anti-pop. It is this profound legacy that places him in the enviable position of an early pioneer in a new genre of music which will become known as Americana.  Almost as impressive is the fact that three decades after his death, with minimal industry promotion, and no grueling road tours, all of his albums are still in print. It is an monumental feat very few artists enjoy.

These important accomplishments come at a cost to anti-heroes though. Since they are not producing product for mainstream markets, record label accounting departments tend to neglect them, and then many trade journalists underrate their contributions. In spite of the fact that Paul Butterfield is as important an artist as Louis Armstrong, or Charlie Parker, until now, there have been no extensive biographies, or documentaries, that single out his enormous contributions to popular music. Outside snippets of shallow biographies found in old trade magazines we know very little of Paul Butterfield the artist. There are distant voices like veteran Jazz writer and broadcaster Jim Gallert who says, This man is so underrated. People talked about Miles Davis as the harbinger of jazz rock, but Paul Butterfield was doing this fusion between jazz and blues in a different way, but those insightful words scarce. The last three decades since his passing have shown us that the people who keep Paul Butterfield's contributions alive are in fact his devoted fans.

As a testament to the reality, consider this anecdotal evidence: In the mid-sixties a self-described folkie by the name of Sandra Warren has her first encounter with Butterfield's music when buys an Elektra Records sampler called Folksong '65. The album features the band's youthfully bold version of their song Born in Chicago.  Similar to so many other young people of era, something about attitude conveyed through the music resonates inside her, and she rushes out to buy his first album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Then the band is booked to play several nights at Cafe Au Go-Go in New York City's bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village, and she goes to hear them live, not once, but several times. She is transfixed enough that his music will now play a recurring role in the soundtrack of her life. What Warren doesn't know then is that her love for his music will inspire her own dream. One which will demand that she listen with big ears, employ immense ingenuity, and demonstrate a unique ability to lead people toward making her dream a reality. Sandra Warren's dream will be to make a documentary about the story of Paul Butterfield.

Part of her task as the producer is to enlist a talented team who will make the project into a definite success. The key member of Warren's team is award winning director John Anderson. He has documented some of the most important contributors to popular music of the last century, from pop icons The Beach Boys, and Paul McCartney to punk poet Patti Smith, and the king of Chicago blues drummers, Sam Lay, so he is perfect fit for a Paul Butterfield documentary.

It should be noted that Anderson's new film Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story is not concert film, or a story about Paul Butterfield's music, we already have his impressive body of work. Anderson uses extensive historical research, fresh insightful interviews with family, close friends, and former colleagues to peel back the multiple layers of Butterfield's life to tell us the story of the man who created the music.

Paul Butterfield belongs to a very elite group of artists in history because of his unique gifts, but he was human too. Viewers will hear very poignant stories of battles between his passion for music, and own his emotional frailties. They will feel his deep love for family which is complicated with his self destructive obsessions. Then there is betrayal of his trust by his associates which places him on a painfully tragic journey. All of it is peppered with wry humor, and heartwarming anecdotes from people who really knew him well. After viewing the film, the viewer will realize that while Paul Butterfield was really did belong to an elite group of artists, he was also one of us.

Paul Butterfield never did succumb to the trappings of the mainstream pop music heroes, always preferring to practice his craft in the relative quiet found in the periphery. He didn't bump and grind across the stage for what seemed like only an hour performing flamboyant stage antics, nor did he write cute pop songs.

Similar to other important anti-heroes in music such as Charlie Parker, Mike Bloomfield and Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield refused to submit to mainstream expectations, and instead set out to create a new music, one that was not shackled by genre or race, and he succeeded. We have always had his music, but until now, we have known very little about the man who created the music. John Anderson's  Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story fills that void with his documentary about one of America's most important artists. It will delight fans, and finally give Paul Butterfield his rightful place in history.
 

Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story World PremierE Sold Out

The Newport Beach Film Festival’s World Premiere Screenings of Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story on April 21st and 25th were sell-outs, and the Festival responded by hosting a third screening on April 27th!

The April 21st event included a Q & A with Director John Anderson, Executive Producer Sandra Warren, Elektra Records Founder and Former CEO Jac Holzman, Guitarist Buzz Feiten, Saxophonist Trevor Lawrence, Trumpeter Steve Madaio and Paul’s son Lee Butterfield.

On April 25th, Anderson and Warren were joined for the Q & A by Keyboardist Barry Goldberg and Guitarist Buzz Feiten.

David Hawkins reviews the film in his blog ‘The Complete Paul Butterfield’.