7 in NYC U. Citians @ Jeremy Schonfeld's Listening Party for "Iron & Coal"

(L to R: Christie Mitchell, Julia Zeuner, Jeremy Schonfeld, Rod Milam, Tom Seltzer, Eve Seltzer, Kaoru Watanabe, Rob Gallegher)

On July 19, 2011, native U. Citian Jeremy Schonfeld held a listening party for the album that he just finished mastering, Iron & Coal.  He held this session for people that he knows on from his work on Broadway and other musicians.  We were there to shoot as part of Sounding The Chord.  We decided to let some of the other known U. City people that live in NYC know about this mid-afternoon event.  U. Citian Tom Seltzer was already going to be there because he designed the album cover, logo, and liner notes for the project.  Rod Milam was there because he worked on a promotional video for the album.  Jeremy's sister, Julia Zeuner, was there since the album is a semi-autobiographical, fictionalized look back at the life of Jeremy and his father Dr. Gustav Schonfeld. Location: Dale Pro Audio in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York

Marty Ehrlich & Avi Bortnick @ Jalopy in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY (September 2011)

Avi Bortnick (UCHS c/o 1981) and Marty Ehrlich (UCHS c/o 1970) after playing a very fun (and challenging) gig at "Jalopy" in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York with Ghost Train Orchestra, a 10 piece band that plays 30s and 40s style music.

The illPHONiCS @ Club Lola in Downtown St. Louis (September 2011)

The illPHONiCS are...(L to R, Back to Front) Chaz "CB" Brew - Drums (UCHS c/o 2006), Keith "Blacklion" Moore - Keyboards (UCHS c/o 2003), Larry "Fallout" Morris - Rapper/Front Man (UCHS c/o 2003), Kevin "Killer K" Koehler - (DeSmet High School c/o 2003), Simon "Spank" Chervitz - Bass (UCHS c/o 2005)

The U. City Jazz Festival Intiators

Brothers Rob & Mike Silverman On Stage @ the UC Jazz Fesitival (September 2011) that they conceived of and pulled off with great success in Heman Park.

The UCHS Class of 1985 is Present at the UC Jazz Festival

Matt Bollinger, Casey Adams, and Rob Silverman, U. City musicians all, @ the U. City Jazz Festival 2011 in September.

The U. City Young Jazz Lions @ the 1st U. City Jazz Festival (September 2011)

Ben Arronberg-Piano (St. Louis University High School c/o 2012), Albert Marshall-Bass (UCHS c/o 2012), Sam Katz-Saxaphone (UCHS c/o 2012), Joey Ferber-Gituar (UCHS c/o 2012), & Zach Morrow-Drums (UCHS c/o 2013) behind the band shell in Heman Park at the 1st ever U. City Jazz Festival in September of 2011.

U, City Musicians from the Class of 1975 @ the 1st U. City Jazz Festival

Bwayne Smotherson, Wiley Price, and Jeff Anderson all UCHS c/o 1975

Gloria Attoun & Michael Bauermeister @ Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow, MO

Avi Bortnick & Kevin Batchelor @ The Brooklyn Bowl (February 2012)

In one of many crazy coincidences that have been happening with this documentary, after Kevin Batchelor (r) (UCHS c/o 1979) played at the Brooklyn Bowl, Avi Bortnick (l) (UCHS c/o 1980) showed up to play in the next band. The two U. Citians hadn't seen each other in more than 9 years. U. City East = Brooklyn (apparently)

Participants In Sounding The Chord (Current As Of September 5, 2011)

Here's a composite picture of all of the people that have been in front of the cameras for the project from the beginning in February of 2011 to the beginning of September of 2011.

Index (From Left to Right, Top to Bottom)

Amy Wilson Grace, Andrew Conway, Cara Reedy, Casey Geisz, Christopher Edmonds, Christopher Thomas, Christopher Watkins, Christie Mitchell, David Berger, David Friedman, Diane Davenport, Eve Seltzer, George Wright, Harry Miller, James Greene, Jason Levine, Jenny Boyce, John Brophy, Kaoru Watanabe, Kevin Batchelor, Linda Presgrave, Mary Riles, Michael Wilner, Peter Martin, Rod Milam, Roger Warner, Ronnie Burrage, Steve Hoover, Steve Schankman, Steve Singer, Todd Williams, Tom Seltzer, Wayne du Maine.

Video Shoot Locations (Current as of September 11, 2011)

US States from West to East: 

Washington, Oregon, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maine

9 LA Area U. City Musicians & Artists in One Trip - February 26-29, 2012

From L to R, Top to Bottom:
Billy Webber (Savage), Darwin Harris, David Greiman, Eric Fletcher, JD Pickney, Jerry Breiner, Leonard Roberts, Marlon West, Pat Hennessy.

On a whirlwind trip for the project to the LA area, we ended up interviewing a whopping nine U. City musicians/artists that were spread out over 680 miles/1100 km from San Clemente south to Ventura north.  All of that was squeezed into only 3.5 days and we had a great time meeting these actors, camera experts, visual artists, and musicians that have all called U. City home.  The range of graduation ages was great too.  It went from UCHS class of 1971 to the class of 2002 and every decade in between.

Video Shoot Locations After 1 Year of Production (as of 3-1-2012)

The 14 US states that contain the 35 cities/towns that we've visited for video shoots of subjects for the documentary in the first year of production from west to east:

Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine.

Sounding The Chord Participants As of September 19, 2011

jazz at lincoln center with todd williams, peter martin, & cara reedy (april 2012).jpg

jazz at lincoln center with todd williams & peter martin (april 2012) 1.jpg

Jason Coleman & Ben Stein @ The Moonrise Motel In The Loop (May 2014)

Up on the rooftop of The Moonrise Hotel in eastern section of The Loop in University City, Missouri, we were there to shoot UCHS c/o 2003 DJ Ben Stein (on the right) as he spun with his collective "The Loud Outfit" while some thunderstorms were approaching from the west.  After Ben saw us, he pointed to some people that were hanging out and part of his BSS crew and said that we should talk to one of the guys for the project (Jason Coleman, UCHS c/o 2001, on the left) since he was also into music.

We did that and also found out that Jason's father was also a U. City graduate and a musician that happened to be out on the west coast gigging for the moment.  We shot this picture and were not at all surprised to stumble across yet another U. City musician without knowing it and then finding out that they had some musical lineage that was also connected to U. City.

Rosalind & Beverly Boyd and Butch Lloyd at Villa Farotto (May 2014)

Three U. City kids of the 70s and 80s playing music together in 2014. Singer Beverly Boyd (UCHS c/o 1978), drummer Butch Lloyd (Pershing, Brittany, & Hanley - would have been UCHS c/o 1983), and singer Rosalind Boyd-Moore (UCHS c/o 1977) make up half of the members of the R&B group "Retro Boogie". We caught up with them playing for the diners and dancers at Villa Farotto in Chesterfield Valley, Missouri in May of 2014.  This shot of them was between one of their sets as they took a break in the back room.

May 2014 Project Participants All Around The St. Louis Area

In the month of May in 2014, we had a record setting number of encounters for a one month period with participants in the project.  In the general St. Louis area we met, talked to, and photographed 20 different people who lived in U. City for at least  1 year, went to the public schools for at least 1 year, and went on to be paid professional musicians for at least 1 year!  We met these folks in spaces as divers as bars (alcohol and hookah), churches (Baptist, Catholic, and Presbyterian), coffee shops, parks, clubs, restaurants, rooftops, and music stores.  This is a great snapshot in time of how much influence the "Kids of U. City" still have an influence over the soundtrack of the entire St. Louis area even over the range of high school graduation dates from 1960 to 2013.  We were very happy to meet up with these participants and to watch and listen to them put their talents to work.  Thanks again to: Al Ox, Ambra Robinson, Ben Stein, Beverly Moore, Butch Lloyd, Bwayne Smotherson, Christopher Watkins, Craig Florez, Danny duMaine, Harriet Harris, Jason Coleman, Jeff Anderson, Jenn (Courtney) Clodi, Jody Carter, Johnathan Ruder, Nate Smotherson, Patrick Harting, Phillip Sykes, Ron Buhlinger, and Rosalind Boyd-Moore.

Kyjuan, Billy Lawrence, & Murphy Lee @ U. City Alumni Picnic (July 2014)

Two members of the Grammy award winning group The St. Lunatics (Kyjuan and Murphy Lee) surround R&B singer Billy Lawrence as they enjoy the end of the 13 annual U. City High all class picnic in Heman Park in University City.

Eve Seltzer & Donald Williams in Heman Park @ Rico Concert (August 2014)

Percussionist Donald Williams (UCHS c/o 1977) and singer and two time Grammy nominated sound engineer Eve Seltzer (UCHS c/o 1993) meet for the first time in Heman Park in University City at the Starlight Concert Series performace of the Chicago based band "Rico", featruing U. City musician Ricky Baker (UCHS c/o 1975).

Everett Moore, Phillip Sykes, & Craig Florez @ Ucity Nites (August 2014)

This is a combo shot of 3 members of the funk/soul group "The Soul Misfits" that are University City High School graduates.  This evening, they were performing at the bar Ucity Nites on Olive Street Road in U. City.  From left to right in both pictures are Everett O. Moore (UCHS c/o 1982) on drums, Phillip Sykes (UCHS c/o 1979) on sax, and Craig Florez (UCHS c/o 1978) on guitar.

3 U. City Members of The Soul Misfits Playing @ Ucity Nites (August 2014)

This is a combo shot of 3 members of the funk/soul group "The Soul Misfits" that are University City High School graduates.  This evening, they were performing at the bar Ucity Nites on Olive Street Road in U. City.  From left to right in both pictures are Everett O. Moore (UCHS c/o 1982) on drums, Phillip Sykes (UCHS c/o 1979) on sax, and Craig Florez (UCHS c/o 1978) on guitar.

U. City Members of "The Soul Misfits" @ Ucity Nites (August 2014)

This is a combo shot of 3 members of the funk/soul group "The Soul Misfits" that are University City High School graduates.  This evening, they were performing at the bar Ucity Nites on Olive Street Road in U. City.  From left to right in both pictures are Everett O. Moore (UCHS c/o 1982) on drums, Phillip Sykes (UCHS c/o 1979) on sax, and Craig Florez (UCHS c/o 1978) on guitar.

Looprat Rehersal Pre-Album Release in U. City (August 2014)

The hip-hop/funk/fusion group "Looprat" consists of 8 different U. City kids, and we got to them as they were gearing up for their album release and a big performance in Maplewood, Missouri in August of 2014.  The group members from left to right are: Nate King (UCHS c/o 2012), William Berkowitz (UCHS c/o 2014), Alex Yentumi (UCHS c/o 2012), Sam Katz (UCHS c/o 2012), Albert Marshall (UCHS c/o 2012), Ben Aronberg (UCHS c/o 2012), Joey Ferber (UCHS c/o 2012), and Zach Morrow (UCHS c/o 2013).

U. City "Young Jazz Lions" From September 2011 to August 2017

An upside of having this project taking much, much longer than ever anticipated is being able to revisit some of the subjects of the doc that you saw back in the beginning to see what has happened to them.  Well this picture represents this upside about as good as one could want. The top picture is of what was called the "U. City Young Jazz Lions" at the very first U. City Jazz Festival in Heman Park in September of 2011, put on and organized by U. City musicians Rob and Mike Silverman.  These 5 "kids" had been playing together for years already and were sitll in high school.  From left to right we have Ben Arronberg-Piano (St. Louis University High School c/o 2012), Albert Marshall-Bass (UCHS c/o 2012), Sam Katz-Saxaphone (UCHS c/o 2012), Joey Ferber-Gituar (UCHS c/o 2012), & Zach Morrow-Drums (UCHS c/o 2013).  On the bottom, we have the very same group of "kids" but just about 6 years later. This shot was taken after they and the rest of their jazz/hip-hop fusion collective "LOOPRAT" finished performing at "The 'Burbs - Music & Arts Fest" at the Chesterfield Ampitheater in August of 2017. Most of the rest of LOOPRAT are U. City graduates as well, Nate King (UCHS c/o 2012), William Berkowitz (UCHS c/o 2014), Alex Yentumi (UCHS c/o 2012), and we have another picture of the whole group and in action on stage at "The 'Burbs".

LOOPRAT @ The 'Burbs Music & Art Fest in Chesterfield, MO (August 2017)

This is a shot of the jazz/hip-hop collective known as LOOPRAT after their performance at the 2017 edition of "The 'Burbs - Music & Art Fest" held at the Chesterfield Ampitheater in Chesterfield, MO in August.  The group mostly consists of University City High School alumni...including (from back row, left to right): Albert Marshall-Bass (UCHS c/o 2012), Joseph Ferber-Gituar (UCHS c/o 2012), Sam Katz-Saxaphone (UCHS c/o 2012), Khamali Cuffie-Moore (Metro High School), Zach B. Morrow-Drums (UCHS c/o 2013), Ben Aronberg-Piano (St. Louis University High School c/o 2012), (front row, left to right), David Bolhen (Parkway South High School), Nate King (UCHS c/o 2012), Alex Yentumi (UCHS c/o 2012), William Dalen Nathan Berkowitz (UCHS c/o 2014), & Armani Franklin (Metro High School).  We hadn't caught up with these guys since exactly 3 years before in 2014 when they were rehearsing for a big CD release gig at "The Blind Tiger" in Maplewood, MO. They're currently working on another project that should be released soon.

UCHS Class of 1988 Musicians at their 30-Year Reunion @ Mad Art (October 2018)

At this point in the documentary project, we’ve had the chance to sit-down and interview almost 60 people in 17 different states and we have still photography of more than 125 different individuals in 43 different cities. This collection of talented U. Citians happen to all be from the same high school class, (the class of 1988) and represent five of the known 17 people from that class that fit the criteria for musicians that we’ve been looking for since 2011. They were all in St. Louis at Mad Art Gallery for their 30-year UCHS class reunion. From left to right, Christopher Thomas, DJ CHARLIE CHAN SOPRANO(Charles Beason), Jenn Courtney Clodi, Christopher Watkins, and Larry Krone represent artistry of music in the worlds of jazz, hip-hop, musical theatre, Christian music, and (…how would Larry describe it…) country-folk-experimental-ukelele fusion (???)...and they do it well. We’ve shot them all individually before in various locations in St. Louis and New York City, but never all in one place. We just had to do it, especially since the project starter Rod Milam was at the reunion too.

DJ Charlie Chan Soprano & Chris Thomas @ 1988 30th Reunion (October 2018)

Project founder posted this on his class' Facebook page for their 30 year UCHS reunion along with the following picture: