On Saturday, May 1, at 7 p.m., guests will enjoy a screening of Dan Pritzker’s film Bolden on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz Museum following a performance by Calvin Johnson and a Q&A session about the movie. Admission is $50 and includes an open bar by Seven Three Distilling Co and catering by Bywater Bakery.

Filmed in 2019, Bolden is based on the life of cornetist Buddy Bolden (1877–1931). One of the seminal figures in jazz history, Bolden left no surviving recordings, having been committed in 1907 at age 30 to the Louisiana State Insane Asylum, where he spent the rest of his life after a diagnosis of acute alcoholic psychosis. The musical drama features original music written, arranged and performed by Wynton Marsalis. The film stars Gary Carr as Bolden, and co-stars Erik LaRay Harvey, Reno Wilson, Yaya DaCosta, Ian McShane and Michael Rooker.

Calvin Johnson starred as Frank Lewis in the film. He is a New Orleans-born saxophonist, bandleader, composer, producer, and actor. Johnson has worked with many of the biggest names in New Orleans music, including Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mystikal, Irvin Mayfield, Mannie Fresh, and others. Johnson is the nephew of New Orleans clarinetist Ralph Johnson, a longtime member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Johnson began playing saxophone at the age of seven, and since 2008 has been playing with his own band, Calvin Johnson & Native Son. In 2015, he started a new band with Dirty Dozen Brass Band founding member and sousaphone player, Kirk Joseph, called Chapter: SOUL.

A limited number of tickets are available here.

The New Orleans Jazz Museum will also honor UNESCO’s International Jazz Day on Friday, April 30, with a daylong virtual celebration on Facebook of a variety of performances by local and international artists, including student musicians. Programming will begin at 10:30 a.m. CDT. The Museum welcomes a limited  in-person audience for a free outdoor performance by Amina Scott at 5 p.m. Attendance is first come, first served. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.