The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation today launched a new PSA, “Rise and Shine,” starring Trombone Shorty, to raise money for their relief fund to support Louisiana musicians who have lost income amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the COVID-19 pandemic rolled across the globe, it silenced live music everywhere. As home to some of the world’s greatest musical traditions, Louisiana is also home to some of its most gifted musicians. Musicians who have been struggling for nearly a year now, with no real end in sight. Some of whom have left their instruments behind for good, finding new ways to make ends meet, and making it challenging for young musicians to receive music instruction from the city’s culture bearers.
To help offset the fallout, the Foundation launched a Music Relief Fund in March 2020. To date, the foundation has distributed more than $1M to musicians across Louisiana. And this year on February 10, only days before Mardi Gras, the Foundation in partnership with independent creative agency, LIGHT+CO, will commence the next wave of relief efforts by asking people everywhere a simple question, Have you ever been saved by a song?
The Foundation’s new effort will kick off with a film entitled Rise and Shine — featuring New Orleans’ own Trombone Shorty — reawakening the city and inviting music lovers everywhere to join together and help the city’s sound carry on for generations to come.
“It’s been a rough time for our city’s musicians, many are hurting. Being a part of that community, I know that we have to be there for one another. We’ve always banded together to help each other – it’s more important now, than ever. Music lovers, join us to help keep NOLA music alive,” said Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews.
Don Marshall, Executive Director, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, added, “In my many years of working with the Foundation, I don’t think I’ve seen a more powerful and authentic representation of our city or musicians than the ‘Rise and Shine’ film.”
“By cancelling live music, the pandemic robbed the musical community of not just their sound, but their livelihood. Their ability to make ends meet, and do what they do best: share their sound with the world. We’ve all had that moment when music has saved our lives. Now it’s time to save music,” said David Cameron, founder and CEO, LIGHT+CO.
In addition to Troy Andrews, the film features professional musicians from New Orleans — Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s Roger Lewis on Saxophone and the Soul Rebels’ Julian Gosin on trumpet — along with a cast of local children, many of whom have been students of the Foundation’s free music program, the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music. In fact, Troy Andrews himself was an early student of the Heritage School of Music.
The film, directed by Benjamin Sonntag, was shot amid the height of Covid in New Orleans in August 2020. The production adhered to all of the City’s Covid-19 rules and guidelines to protect the children, musicians and crew.
The song in the film is an original arrangement of Allen Toussaint’s “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On),” with a featured solo improvised by Troy Andrews.
This film was generously made possible by a 75-person nationwide team. All creative resources required for the making of the film were donated pro-bono by LIGHT+CO and its production partners: Found Objects Music Production, Eleven Sound, Shape + Light, Cabin Editing Company, and Venn Arts Music.
