Blues March - Soldier Jon Hendricks
In Cinema
Blues March – Soldier Jon Hendricks
Documentary, HD, 78 min.
Dir: Malte Rauch
A production of strandfilm/Frankfurt in coproduction with MR Film in cooperation with WDR.
Supported by Hessen film funds, media desk and Hessen Invest Film.
International distributor: Telepool Munich.
Premiere: 03.03.2010, 19:30 Metropolis Frankfurt
Deserter, black marketeer, Jazz legend.
The African-American jazz musician Jon Hendricks as a GI in World War 2. He deserted when his own people shot at him.
»Blues March« tells the story of the now 87-year-old world-famous jazz musician Jon Hendricks, co-founder of the legendary swing and vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Amongst others Hendricks sang with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis for whom he also wrote lyrics. He was a role model for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones amongst others. »Blues March« also tells of Jon Hendrick’s experience as a »Negro Soldier« (the title of Frank Capra’s well-known film) in the US Army in World War 2. It is a shattering and even nowadays little-known history of racial discrimination. According to Hendricks the black soldiers were treated »like slaves on the plantation.« They were regarded as racially inferior by the US General Staff but were supposed to fight Nazi racism. Hendricks reports that they had more reason to fight their own – white – military police and their – white – officers than the Germans. And when white GI’s shot at him, he decided to desert…