New Orleans’ culture as seen through the lens of music.

Media Contact::Cilista EberleOfc: 504 895-5449Cell: 213 926-9905CCEberle@aol.com

For more information:Michael Murphy Productions, Inc.mmptv@aol.com | www.mmptv.comFacebook.com/upfromthestreetsnola

TECH SPECS:New footage shot in 4k with archival stills and

footageAudio mixed in 5.1 and

stereoTRT: 104 minutes

UP FROM THE STREETS®NEW ORLEANS: THE CITY OF MUSIC

A look into the culture of New Orleans through the lens of music.

Executive Producer: Terence Blanchard

Writer, Director, Producer: Michael Murphy

Producers: Cilista Eberle, Robin Burgess

Music Director and Host: Terence Blanchard

Director of Photography: Mark Moore

Editor: Bruce Ochmanek

Director’s Statement: Up From The Streets is a film on how the music of New Orleans reflects the culture of the city; and how music has the power to change lives. New Orleans is my hometown and the music here has been a vital source of inspiration for myself and the citizens of this amazing city. Our music unites us, providing a deep spiritual connection to the city’s rich multi-cultural foundation that began 300 years ago. In many ways, the story of New Orleans is the story of America – a country founded by people who wanted freedom, and wanted to escape social injustice and cultural biases. The music of New Orleans became not only a celebration of life but also, at times, an expression of a want, need, and desire for freedom.

=“He also collaborated with director Michael Murphy on “Up From the Streets,” a documentary about the impact of music on life and culture in New Orleans and beyond. The most important thing was the contributions these artists made not just to New Orleans, but the world,” Blanchard said. “It bubbled up from New Orleans, and reached every nook and cranny….” - Keith Spera – Times Picayune Advocate

MEDIA & TESTIMONIES

=This music documentary from filmmaker Michael Murphy is as ambitious as it is audacious, setting out to chronicle the history of New Orleans music — all of it, from the first slave-driven drum circles at Congo Square through to the arrival of Bounce music…a fitting tribute to the city’s sonic history. BY MIKE SCOTT | Contributing writer Times Picayune/Ne Orleans Advocate

It seems like a Herculean task: documenting the history of music in New Orleans in less than two hours. After all, music in the Big Easy goes back hundreds of years. The task, however, did not seem as daunting to filmmaker Michael Murphy. The end result is his thoroughly enjoyable and informative new film Up from the Streets: New Orleans The City of Music. - Cultural Attaché – Craig L Byrd

Michael Murphy’s new film distills New Orleans’ deep, diverse musical culture into a packed 103-minutes. … Eagle Rock Entertainment, a London-based division of the Universal Music Group, signed on as Up from the Streets’ distributor and executive producer. “The artists who have given identity to what we think of as the music of New Orleans,” Eagle Rock’s Geoff Kempin says in a release, “are now represented by a film that is both insightful and honest in its portrayal of the music culture of the city.” – John Wirt Offbeat Magazine

“No doubt U.S. history is beset with the shadow and the shame of slave trafficking. But this film, not hiding from these distasteful facts, starts with a frank discussion of the untoward circumstances providing a backdrop for the power and unifying effect of this city’s music… Through Mr. Murphy’s delightful film structure and employing the powerful of the film’s music director and host, Terence Blanchard, viewers experienced, through thoughtful interviews, dotted with virtuoso performances both current and vintage, a lens of New Orleans Jazz’s, ranging from African Drums of Congo Square to present- day, traditional jazz to Hip- Hop and BOUNCE… I will also add that NOLA citizens share a sense of belonging that perhaps only a citizen will truly understand. It is about sharing, perhaps a sense of family, and I might even say a healing and unifying force, “LOVE.” E.L. Johnson – Smooth Jazz Magazine

UP FROM THE STREETS®

NEW ORLEANS: THE CITY OF MUSIC

FILM SYNOPSIS

A feature length documentary that looks at the culture of New Orleans through the lens of music. New Orleans has a distinct history as a result of its political and social history. There is a thread that runs through the city that can be heard from the drumming at Congo Square in the 1700’s through to today’s vibrant music scene. The music of this city is a powerful form of expression. It was a vehicle to communicate a desire for freedom, express frustration of the injustices of segregation and Jim Crow laws, a healing force that helped bring the city back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and is still a vital form of expression against ongoing cultural & racial biases. Executive Producer Terence Blanchard, and Director Michael Murphy, show how the culture of the city is reflected in its music, how music impacts culture; and how even in the darkest of times, music lifts and unites.

View the official Up From The Streets trailer

A CITY OF TRADITIONS

“You know, the beautiful thing about being fromNew Orleans is that you feel like you're part of atradition. …I can go down on Frenchman Street,and I can hear some young kids playing on thestreet. And I can hear Louis Armstrong in theirplaying. And they may not ever realize it”.– Terence Blanchard

NEW ORLEANS

A CULTURE OF RESILIENCE

AND THE MUSIC THAT CONNECTS IT ALL

”The DNA line from you know the old spirituals and field songs to the Jazz and the second lines to where Bounce music is -they're all children of the New Orleans culture”. – DJ Raj Smoove

“Katrina put up this mirror - it made us look at ourselves differently. It also, stripped us ofeverything, And for the first time, this cityexperienced silence. When you go out in NewOrleans, you expect there to be music. Youwant there to be music. … It became a battlecry. It became a mission. It became a reason towake up in the morning. It gave us a reason tolive, and New Orleans is worth fighting for. “ –Ben Jaffe

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

(AND ANSWERS)

→ Is Up from the Streets about New Orleans music and culture today or is it more a history of the city from a musical and cultural perspective?

This is not a “historical” film –We look at the history and culture of New Orleans thru the lens of music from pre-colonial days thru today in order to give context as to how and why the music here developed as it did. The film highlights the diverse, multicultural fabric of New Orleans and how family, community and cultural traditions are reflected in the music, and how music has always been an important and vital part of everyday life to its citizens.

→ New Orleans trumpeter-composer Terence Blanchard performs in the film and he’s documentary’s on-camera host. Why did you want Terence to occupy such a major place in the film?

Terence’s body of work speaks volumes for his life’s accomplishments and how music has played such an important part of his life. His strength as the film’s host mirrors his commanding presence on the stage.

→ Up from the Streets contains many kinds of New Orleans music, but jazz is featured extensively. Is the film an ambassador for jazz from New Orleans as well as the many other kinds of music from the city?

All music in New Orleans developed out of the same building blocks: drumming, folk, classical, blues, and spirituals from many different countries and cultures. Jazz is arguably the first form that took all the differing elements and fused them, but it is only one variation of the music that has come out of this city. The cultural influences in music, especially in the development and evolution of New Orleans jazz, became the building blocks across all the music spectrum.

COMMONLY ASKED

QUESTIONS (AND ANSWERS)

→ Several major music and cultural figures in New Orleans -- includingFats Domino, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Art Neville and Dave Bartholomew --have passed away this year and in recent years. Does the loss of these key players reinforce the value of Up from the Streets for you?

Speaking from a professional viewpoint, the passing of our music icons during the making of this film caused me to reflect on the importance and lasting legacy of these people have had on music as a whole. At the same time, being from New Orleans, losing our music greats created a very personal and deep commitment to making the best film possible in honor of these artists and our remarkable city.

→ What do you want viewers to take away from watching Up From The Streets?

New Orleans has had a distinct history. The city has made unique contributions to America’s culture through it’s food, traditions and music. But there is a larger universal message - the power of music. Music crosses racial, linguistic and cultural barriers. It is a form of expression that anyone can hear and feel. Music can unite and can heal. And music can support and raise people up when they are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

PERFORMANCES

Aaron & Ivan Neville

Allen Toussaint

Danny Barker & His Jazz Hounds

Dr. Michael White and The Original Liberty Jazz Band

Dr. John

Earl King

Galactic

Herlin Riley

Irma Thomas with Allen Toussaint

Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk

James Booker

Louis Armstrong

Mahalia Jackson

Mannie Fresh & Big Freedia

The Neville Brothers

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Professor Longhair with the Meters

Quiana Lynell

The Radiators

Sweet Emma Barrett

Tank & The Bangas

Terence Blanchard & E Collective

Tom McDermott

INTERVIEWS

Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes

Germaine Bazzle

Terence Blanchard

Courtney Bryan

Irma Thomas (2004)

Jon Cleary

Harry Connick Jr.

Quint Davis

Big Freedia

Mannie Fresh

Steve Gadd

Roberta Grace

Ben Jaffe

Leroy Jones

Alan Light

Delfeayo Marsalis

Branford Marsalis

Jason Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Cosimo Matassa (2004)

PJ Morton

Art & Aaron Neville (2004)

Arthel Neville

Charmaine Neville

Charles Neville (2004)

Ivan Neville

Earl Palmer (2004)

Robert Plant

Bruce Raeburn

Bonnie Raitt (2004)

Mac Rebennack/Dr John (2000)

Keith Richards (2004)

Herlin Riley

Alfred Uganda Roberts

Reggie Scanlon

Hammond Scott

Raj Smoove

Sting

Bill Summers

Allen Toussaint (2004)

Reginald Toussaint

Walter Washington

Reid Wick

Dr. Michael White

PHOTOS

Pictured left:Art Neville,Aaron Neville

Pictured right:Robert Plant

Pictured left:Terence Blanchard

PHOTOS

Pictured left: Michael Murphy and Terence Blanchard

Pictured right: Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas

Pictured left: Dr. John