Halloween is a time for all things ghoulish and creepy and no there’s better way to get in the spirit than attending a screening of Nosferatu, the 1922 German silent film. The horror classic will be shown on the outdoor screen at The Broadside at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 27, and Thursday, October 28.
Based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this 95-minute silent film has long been revered by film scholars. The unique look of Count Orlock has influenced the world’s view of vampires ever since and as noted film critic Roger Ebert said, “Nosferatu inspired dozens of other Dracula films, none of them as artistic or unforgettable.”
It may be a silent film but this performance will be far from silent—indeed, most early silent films were shown with musical accompaniment and the film’s subtitle translates as “A Symphony of Horrors,” The original score of Nosferatu has been lost and many scores have been created for the film since. But what is offered at these two screenings in New Orleans are fully improvised scores each night by the Nolatet trio—Brian Haas, James Singleton, and Mike Dillon—joined by Aurora Nealand. They performed Nosferatu last April at The Broadside and naturally it needed to be reprised for Halloween.
This marriage of Nolatet and Nosferatu began in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Haas. He had grown up outside of Tulsa and attended the University of Tulsa and followed his call of becoming a full-time musician. He recorded extensively with his group the Jacob Fred Jazz Orchestra (a constantly morphing band over the course of more than two decades who have released an amazing 27 albums), duets with drummer Matt Chamberlin and more recently with Nolatet, which has two albums out and a third expected to be releasde at the end of 2021 or early next year. Nolatet came together for a gig in 2014 at the Telluride Jazz Festival and have found success ever since.
Recently, Haas started working with Chuck Foxen at Circle Cinema in Tulsa. Foxen commissioned him in 2018 to create a live performance to accompany film footage of a tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma, in 2013. That led to being asked to accompany Nosferatu on pipe organ for Halloween 2018. As Foxen told the Tulsa World at the time, “The audience response to that was so strong [to the earlier project] that it just made sensre to do something else when you have someone as talented as he is.” The Nosferatu screening received an excellent response and when asked to do it again Haas switched to piano and brought in Nolatet for an improvisational music experiment in Tulsa for Halloween 2020.
Brian Knighten, the booking agent for The Broadside, read about the Tulsa performance and knew it would be just right for the outdoor stage and screen in New Orleans. Nealand was asked to join the group. She too had previously arranged improvisational silent film scores. On many Thursday night gigs at Buffa’s she had joined pianist Tom McDermott in adding music to comedic shor films by Buster Keaton.
Haas believes that Nolatet has a shared language that allows for unique improvising to the action on the screen, but he was blown away by what Nealand brought to their April show with her joyful exuberance. “It was really something and you know Mike Dillon is a wild man! What can I say. But the guy to watch on these shows is our bassist. Look out for Singleton. He has tricks up his sleeve when we do Nosferatu, You gotta be there!”
For more information and to purchase tickets to the Nosferatu screenings, visit the website for The Broadside.
