The trailer and poster have been unveiled for the upcoming musical drama Bolden.

The film stars Gary Carr, Yaya DaCosta, Ian McShane, Michael Rooker and Erik LaRay Harvey with music written, arranged and performed by Wynton Marsalis and directed by Dan Pritzker.

The description: Inspired by the life of Buddy Bolden, the film reimagines the compelling, powerful and tragic life of an unsung American hero and the social context in which his revolutionary music was conceived. The birth of jazz was the birth of American popular culture from Louis Armstrong to Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Fugees and Dr. Dre. Bolden is where it all began. Weaving together distant memories of his past, Bolden immerses you in a world fueled by passion, greed and genius, in early 1900s New Orleans. Bolden toiled on sidewalks and in clubs during a time of encroaching racial oppression. Persevering through the tightening grip of Jim Crow, he was instrumental in gathering the folk, ragtime, and blues music that permeated the freewheeling Storyville section of New Orleans.

“It’s so rich,” DaCosta said. “It’s such a beautiful homage to Buddy Bolden, to American music, to the impact of African Americans on our culture. And it’s a commentary on and a mirror on society, showing how far we’ve come and yet how many similarities there are between that time and today.”

Watch the trailer below:

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Gary Carra

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