FunkJazz Kafé: Diary Of A Decade coming to The Wright in Detroit

DETROIT - On Saturday, July 28, 2012 the official selection by the Pan-African Film Festival, the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, and the San Francisco Black Film Festival, FunkJazz Kafé: Diary Of A Decade (The Story Of A Movement) documentary will be screened at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History at 7pm. Writer, Director, and Producer of the film, Jason Orr will give audiences a cross cultural experience and exclusive view of the full-length documentary that is the quintessential reflection of the FunkJazz Kafé movement, and its global inspiration to a generation for over a decade.

Founded and based in Atlanta, FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival has played an integral role in building the foundation of Atlanta's creative arts scene by encompassing a mixture of live music, visual art, fashion, technology, education, and health & wellness, (which has later grown as part of Atlanta’s lifestyle). Known for its authenticity, global appeal, and vibrant originality, FunkJazz Kafé has given audiences a “once-in-a- lifetime” concert experience both locally and nationally, through the artistry of soul music. Its impact has cultivated and introduced a generation to the originators of the genre, as well as engages them to the new generation of soul artists. A witness to the FunkJazz Kafé impact is Detroit’s own Drake Phifer, who was inspired by the movement to create “Urban Organic”. Explained by Phifer, “Urban Organic at its inception was largely informed and inspired by the model laid by Jason Orr and the FunkJazz Kafé in Atlanta. Many of the artists that we have presented to the public over the years have also shared the FJK stage. To present this film in Detroit represents a full circle.”

The documentary FunkJazz Kafé: Diary Of A Decade (The Story Of A Movement) conveys the evolution of Black and popular music as told by the pioneers and next generation of innovators in soul and popular music. Spanning through the late 1980′s to the early 2000′s, this story will reveal the ongoing challenges with the “mainstream” industry and its impact of the departure of soul music. Special appearances in the film include: Jill Scott, Dr. Cornel West, Dick Gregory, and Cee Lo Green, George Clinton, Erykah Badu, Roy Ayers, Eric Roberson, Jamie Foxx, Andre 3000 and many others. There will be a Q & A with Jason Orr post screening.

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WHO: Jason Orr, Founder of FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival

WHAT: “FunkJazz Kafé: Diary Of A Decade (The Story Of A Movement)” Documentary

WHEN: Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 7pm

WHERE: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
315 East Warren Ave., Detroit, MI 48201

TICKETS:
Eventbrite.com - http://diaryofdecadedetroit-es2.eventbrite.com/?srnk= 1

For more information, visit www.funkjazzkafe.com 

About Jason Orr:
Jason Orr is a culture analyst, marketer, consultant, music producer, film producer and producer of festival programs that creatively integrates lifestyle brands and products. He has been responsible for conceptualizing, developing and marketing creative content for Atlanta’s legendary, FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival, an unscripted festival environment with backdrop of innovative and progressive music. He is a media content developer whose marketing partners have included Heineken, Miller, Volvo Cars, Comcast, The CW, TV One, Cingular Wireless, Starbucks Coffee, Tanqueray, Vibe Magazine, HBO, The National Black Arts Festival, the National Academy of Recorded Arts and Sciences and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. He contributes his knowledge and resources as an advisor on various boards. Currently, he is on the marketing board of advisors for the United Way and served as chairman of the board of directors for the International Soul Music Summit. He has been active with various community-based organizations since 1994 through “FunkJazz Kafé Community Solutions”. Generating over 740,000 pounds of food donated to various charitable organizations that feed the homeless such as, The Atlanta Community Food Bank, Hosea Williams' Feed the Hungry & Homeless Program, Atlanta Alliance for Developmental Disabilities, National Aids Education and Services for Minorities, Focus Hope (Detroit), Food & Friends (DC) and The Atlanta Women's & Children's Shelter. Recently, Orr has worked with TV One for their new season of “Unsung” to provide his cultural influence and insight with working with hip-hop pioneers Arrested Development during the FunkJazz Kafé movement; the episode will premier on August 13, 2012. What continues to remain constant for over a decade is Orr's vigorous quest to serve as a catalyst for broadening and archiving our rich cultural arts environment.

FunkJazz Kafé:
FunkJazz Kafé is a multi-faceted arts and music festival. A “special interest” mixture of style and substance linking fashion, virtual and visual arts, food, wellness, dance, spoken word, new media, bazaar vending and interactive suites with our favorite main ingredient: Music. This one of a kind experience event is known for its authenticity, global appeal and vibrant originality. With an internationally recognized music policy that spans the spectrum of the best in soul-based music, FunkJazz Kafé is a festival like no other, an unscripted environment of mixed-media installations, live video mixing, turntable DJs, live percussion interaction and live painting with a backdrop of innovative music, anything (creative) goes. At FunkJazz Kafé, you’ll see a variety of people/“tribes”. It is a creation and experience audiences of influencers appreciate and somehow correspond to the psychic and spiritual tendencies of self-mastery and expressionistic ingenuity.