Ahead of the film’s world premiere next month at TIFF, Netflix has released the first trailer for Tyler Perry’s “A Jazzman’s Blues,” the billionaire media mogul’s longtime passion project.
Written, directed and produced by Perry, the period drama tells the tale of forbidden love, starring Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer as Bayou and Leanne, a star-crossed couple navigating the world as young Black people in the deep South during the 1940s and through the decades that follow.
“That was our first kiss. Ain’t nothing felt that good in all my life,” Boone’s Bayou narrates as the trailer opens on the lovers sharing a sweet smooch while sitting in a sun-soaked tree.
The dramatic scenes that follow show the trials and tribulations that test the couple’s love as their families and other outside forces try to force them apart. In spite of the odds stacked against them — and as trailer teases — “true love will guide you home.”
Rounding out the film’s ensemble cast are Amirah Vann, Austin Scott, Milauna Jemai Jackson, Brent Antonello, Brad Benedict, Kario Marcel, Lana Young and Ryan Eggold.
The trailer is set to the romantic ballad, “Paper Airplanes,” performed by Ruth B., who is among the heavy-hitters Perry enlisted to add panache to the musical components of the jazz age-set story. The film also features songs arranged and produced by Grammy-winner and Academy Award-nominee Terence Blanchard, music by Aaron Zigman and choreography by the legendary Debbie Allen.
Ruth B. and Blanchard collaborated on the original song, which is available everywhere now and released by Sony Music, layering the Ethiopian-Canadian singer’s vocals above a rousing chorus of strings and piano composed by the pair.
“After having initial discussions and going over the script with Tyler Perry’s team, I knew what Bayou’s and Leanne’s song needed to be – a song of longing and deep, timeless love, a once-in-a-lifetime love,” Ruth B. said in a statement about the track. “I am endlessly thankful to Tyler Perry for trusting me with this song and giving me the opportunity to write my first original song for a major motion picture. ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ is an absolutely beautiful and classic story filled with depth and truth, and I’m so excited for the world to see.”
Tyler Perry directs Joshua Boone (Bayou) on the set of “Tyler Perry’s A Jazzman’s Blues.”
Jace Downs / ©2022 Netflix
“A Jazzman’s Blues” has been Perry’s passion project for more than 27 years. He wrote the script in 1995 after a chance encounter with August Wilson at an after party for one of the legendary playwright’s shows in Atlanta.
“I feel like it’s all that I wanted it to be and more, so I’m ready for the world to see it,” Perry told Variety during an exclusive sitdown at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival earlier this month. “I’m excited about the world seeing a different side of me.”
Despite waiting so long for this moment to arrive, Perry didn’t feel at all nervous about unveiling the film before the world. “Once I do it and surrender it, that’s it; there’s nothing I can do differently,” he explained. “There’s nothing I can change at this point. It is what it is. And I have to let it go.”
At the festival, Perry unveiled select footage from the film before a packed auditorium of more than 800 film lovers who were anxious to get a sneak peek at the film, and explained the process that went into bringing the project to life. Watch that conversation here and the full trailer below:
“A Jazzman’s Blues,” a Tyler Perry film, makes its world premiere on Sun. Sept. 11 at TIFF and launches Sept. 23 on Netflix.