Alan Hicks ’07 and Justin Kauflin ’08 Return to Campus for Screening of their Award-winning Documentary Keep On Keepin’ On at Shea Center on Thursday, March 12; Clark Terry, Subject of Film, Died February 21, 2015

-- Jazz legend Clark Terry died February 21, 2015, at 94; Film focuses on special relationship between jazz legend Clark Terry and pianist Kauflin, who was Terry’s student at William Paterson University

--Hicks and Kauflin will perform in a reunion of the William Paterson jazz ensemble that had been led by Terry

Keep On Keepin’ On, the award-winning documentary about the poignant relationship between the late jazz legend and William Paterson University permanent artist-in-residence Clark Terry and former student Justin Kauflin ’08, will be shown on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus. At this special event, Alan Hicks ’07, the film’s creator and director, and Kauflin will perform as part of the William Paterson jazz ensemble that had been led by Clark Terry. Terry died at 94 on February 21, 2015. He joined the University’s jazz faculty as an ensemble director after donating his archive collection to the University.

Tickets are $10, free for students with ID, and can be purchased at the Shea Center Box Office. Proceeds will benefit a William Paterson jazz student scholarship fund.

Following the 90-minute film, there will be a question and answer session with Hicks and Kauflin, who have received extensive national publicity. The evening concludes with a one-time ensemble reunion and performance featuring William Paterson alumni Hicks, Kauflin, Stantawn Kendrick '08, Brian McCarthy '05, Cameron MacManus '06, and Nicholas Morrison '01. Kauflin’s new CD, Dedication, produced by Quincy Jones, has received outstanding reviews by The New York Times and other media across the nation.

The documentary is making news and winning awards across the country at various film festivals, including best new documentary and best new director awards at the 2014 TriBeCa Film Festival, and best documentary at the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival.  Renowned film and music producer Quincy Jones, who also counts Terry as his mentor, is one of the film’s producers.

The movie tells the story of Kauflin, a pianist who lost his vision at age 11 from a rare eye disease and suffers from severe stage fright. Kauflin forms a bond with Clark Terry, then 89 and beginning to lose his sight as a complication of diabetes. When Kauflin is invited to compete in an elite international competition, Terry’s health takes a turn for the worse; the film follows them as they tackle the toughest challenges of their interwoven lives.

Hicks, a drummer and native of Australia who graduated from William Paterson with a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies, was inspired to make the film based on his own experience with Terry at the University. Hicks was among a number of students Terry mentored during several years on campus, and was one of six students in an ensemble that worked with Terry for a year.

Hicks enlisted his friend and fellow Australian, cinematographer Adam Hart, and they used Kickstarter to fund the project, raising more than $43,000 to support filming. They shot 35 hours of footage over four years. Renowned producer Quincy Jones, who at 13 was Clark Terry’s first student, stopped by Terry’s home in Arkansas one day during filming and became interested in the project; he eventually came on board as a producer.

For tickets, contact the Shea Center Box Office at (973) 720-2371 or email boxoffice@wpunj.edu.

The program is the inaugural “Arts Dialogue Series” of the College of Arts and Communication, and is made possible through the generous funding of the William Paterson University Alumni Association’s Distinguished Visiting Professorship.