A kazoo, a lost friend, and a jazz loft that changes everything.
12-year-old Rowen is given a kazoo as a parting gift from his friend Stevie who is moving away. Wandering alone in the neighborhood, Rowen hears jazz music emanating from a loft and goes to investigate. He is chased away by the security guard but returns the next day only to be rebuffed again. One of the musicians finds the kazoo that Rowen has dropped as well as a note from Stevie saying that he will not be returning. When Rowen returns once more, the musicians invite him and his kazoo to join the group.
Direction
Lydia J. Robertson packs a lifetime into 14 minutes.
Score
Live jazz breathes soul into every frame.
Director
Lydia J. Robertson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Lydia J. Robertson made this as her thesis film at NYU — it won a Student Academy Award in 1989.
The film captures a specific moment in 1980s New York loft jazz scene, now largely vanished to gentrification.
US
