Oliver Jones Mind Hands Heart honours the phenomenal life of Canadian jazz pianist Oliver Jones.
The film follows Mr. Jones in the weeks leading up to his retirement, in early 2017, after seven decades as a performer. It goes behind the scenes at his last big concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and follows him to his emotional final performance in his parents’ native Barbados.
Mr. Jones reflects on his memorable life and career, and some of the people who know him best share what he has meant to them and to the Canadian jazz scene.
Principal photography of the film took place in the summer of 2016 in Montreal and Toronto. Additional filming took place in Barbados in January 2017.
Oliver Jones Mind Hands Heart had its World Premiere on Sept. 30, 2017 at the Montreal International Black Film Festival and was an official selection of the 2018 Toronto Black Film Festival.
OLIVER JONES | Musician
Oliver Jones is a renowned Canadian pianist who has recorded two dozen albums for Justin Time Records and has performed around the world.
Named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993 and a Chevalier of the Order of Quebec in 1994, Mr. Jones is the recipient of a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, the Oscar Peterson Award, and a Special Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards.
Mr. Jones has won two Juno Awards and several Félix Awards.
Born in Montreal, he started playing piano when he was only five years old and studied with Oscar Peterson’s sister Daisy Peterson Sweeney.
In the 1950s and 1960s he toured in a group called Bandwagon, before moving to Puerto Rico to work as music director for calypso singer Kenny Hamilton.
Mr. Jones became a staple of the Montreal jazz scene in the ’80s and soon found himself performing for audiences across Canada and throughout the world. He also taught music at Laurentian University and McGill University.
Mr. Jones was the subject of a 1990 National Film Board of Canada documentary, Oliver Jones in Africa.
In 2014, Montréal unveiled a 95-square-metre mural honouring Mr. Jones in the neighbourhood where he spent many of his early years.
OLIVER JONES TRIO & FRIENDS
Featured in Oliver Jones Mind Hands Heart are musicians Éric Lagacé (double bass) and Jim Doxas (drums). The documentary also includes appearances by singer Ranee Lee and musician David Young as well as Georges Durst, Jim West, André Ménard, Trevor Payne, and Céline Peterson.
ROSEY UGO EDEH | Director, Writer & Producer
A familiar face on Canadian television, Rosey Ugo Edeh is CEO of Micha Muse Media.
Currently at CTV News, she was a co-host and reporter on Entertainment Tonight Canada and anchor of Toronto’s Global News at Noon and co-host of Global’s The Morning Show.
Rosey previously worked as a sports and entertainment reporter for Montreal’s CFCF (now CTV) before moving to the U.S. to work for networks like CNN, NBC and MSNBC.
During her career, she has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, film and television.
Rosey competed in three Olympic Games (1988, 1992 and 1996) in track and field and was part of medal-winning relay teams at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1992 World Cup of Track and Field. She is the current Canadian record holder in the 400m hurdles.
Born in London, England, Rosey was raised in Montreal and currently lives in Ottawa.
JOHN R. KENNEDY | Associate Producer
An award-winning journalist and editor for more than 30 years, John R. Kennedy is owner of JRKM.
The Music News Writer for iHeartRadio Canada since 2016, his work is seen on the websites of more than 100 radio stations across Canada. John has interviewed and photographed countless music artists and has covered every major music event in Canada.
He is also editor of Pop Goes The News and a Canadian researcher for UK newspapers Daily Mail and The Sun. Since 2005, his photographs and videos have been syndicated worldwide by Splash News.
John previously worked at Global News, Hello! Canada, American Media Inc. and canada.com. He has appeared regularly on radio and television stations across Canada.
Born and raised in Ottawa, John lived in Toronto for 21 years and has been based in Montréal since 2015.
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Mike Perdue | Editor
Michael Davidson, Philip Harris, Émilie Marchand, Mike Perdue | Cinematography
Rosey Ugo Edeh, John R. Kennedy | Additional Cinematography
Tim Crawshaw, Philip Harris, Julien Lapszynski, Mike Perdue | Sound
Micha J. Powell | Associate Story Producer
• • •
Oliver Jones Mind Hands Heart details at iMDb.com
OLIVER JONES | MIND HANDS HEART 