Why Tyler Perry's passion project 'A Jazzman's Blues' will mark his major film festival debut
Tyler Perry is nothing if not prolific. And busy. Already a wildly successful writer, producer, director and performer in film, television and theater, he added studio head to his resume with the 2019 opening of the massive Tyler Perry Studios production complex in Atlanta. In 2021 he received an honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his charitable work.
When asked how many shows he currently has on the air, Perry said, "I try not to think too much about it. I think it's six, five or six."
His latest film, "A Jazzman's Blues," which premiered Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival ahead of a limited theatrical release on Friday and Netflix launch on Sept. 23, feels like something new from Perry. Based on the first screenplay he ever wrote, in 1995 and brought to the screen with collaborators including choreographer Debbie Allen and musician Terence Blanchard, the film is told with a scale and sweeping accomplishment that Perry has never before reached for.
Framed by a murder mystery plot in the 1980s, the film's core story is set in the Deep South in the 1940s and follows two young Black lovers, Bayou (Joshua Boone) and Leanne (Solea Pfeiffer). Pulled apart by circumstances, they meet again years later when Bayou has
