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Burrill Crohn has been making documentaries, mostly about music, for over 30 years. He wrote, directed and produced the seven-part Women in Jazz series, narrated by Carmen McRae and Marian McPartland which aired on A&E cable network for many years. His five part History of Jazz series, narrated by Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis and Chick Corea, and with interviews with Jimmy Cobb, Elvin Jones and Reggie Workman about John Coltrane, was aired on Bravo Cable Network and PBS outlets in the United States, the BBC and Channel 4 in England, NHK in Japan, and some 35 other countries world-wide as well as being released internationally on various home video formats. Other music documentaries include The Spirit Travels, narrated by Linda Ronstadt, a look at ethnic music in America, Joe Williams: A Portrait in Song, shot in concert with the Count Basie orchestra just a year before this legendary singer's death, and Speak to me of Love, Speak to me of Truth, a concert film of the Billy Harper sextet and 60 voices at Manhattan's St. Peter's Church in December, 2012. And, most recently, Playing With Parkinson's, about virtuoso jazz guitarist Sangeeta Michael Berardi who, despite his diagnosis in 2003 and subsequent onset of symptoms, continues to find ways to play music (and write, and draw) and live life fully with zero self-pity and plenty of joy.
Other musicians Burrill has worked with include David "Fathead" Newman, John Lindberg and pianist Marilyn Crispell. He was a consultant on two Academy Award nominated documentaries, A Great Day in Harlem and Genghis Blues. His work has shown at many film festivals, The Library of Congress and The Museum of Broadcasting. For his History of Jazz series Burrill won a Cable Ace Award (now an Emmy). He continues to work as a writer, producer, director, cameraperson and editor or some combination thereof on other documentary and non-documentary projects. His latest project, I Am Chagala, now in limbo due to Covid-19, had been about a Kenyan shaman who is also a Quaker and ardent environmentalist. Instead, with shelter in place becoming the norm and more time on his hands, Burrill -- and avocational trumpet player -- has been practicing more. Which doesn't necessarily mean he's improved.
