NOW IN PRODUCTION

Director of Photography Bruce Petschek, his son Jules, Pete Seeger, and The Banjo Project Producer, Marc Fields

Taj Mahal with (left to right) camera operator Lynn Weinstein, producer Marc Fields and director of photography Bruce Petschek, after an interview and performance at the home of Jim Bollman in Arlington, MA (September 2004).

Marc Fields is a five-time Emmy winner whose public television documentaries on the arts and humanities have been funded by the CPB, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the New York Council for the Humanities, and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. His most recent documentary is Willie the Lion, a one-hour musical biography of jazz piano legend Willie “the Lion” Smith, featuring Artie Shaw, Dr. Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman and narrated by Joe Morton. Willie the Lion aired on over 50 PBS stations nationwide; it received a regional Emmy for Outstanding Cultural Program and a CINE Golden Eagle, and it was screened at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in April 2002. Willie the Lion is available on DVD from Shanachie Entertainment. Previously, Marc was Series Producer for State of the Arts, a weekly arts magazine produced by New Jersey Public Television, for whom he produced over 80 shows.

He is the co-author of the biography/theater history From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theater, with a foreword by Helen Hayes (Oxford University Press, 1993). From the Bowery to Broadway won the first Kurt Weill Prize, an award recognizing "distinguished scholarship in the field of 20th century musical theater and opera." Because of his expertise on this subject, he has been a consultant for the National Portrait Gallery exhibit Red, Hot and Blue: A Smithsonian Salute to the Musical and for the PBS American Masters program, “Vaudeville USA.” He is the writer for two episodes of the six-part PBS series, Broadway: The American Musical produced by WNET/Thirteen, nationally broadcast in October 2004.

TONY TRISCHKA—MUSIC DIRECTOR

Banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and accomplished instrumentalists on the scene today. To date, he has recorded sixteen albums under his name, featuring such folks as Pete Seeger, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, William S. Burroughs, Alison Krauss, members of REM, Charles Osgood and the Turtle Island String Quartet. Trischka's World Turning CD (Rounder, 1994) traced the banjo's evolution from Africa to contemporary jazz and crossover, and was an inspiration for The Banjo Project . His musical travels have taken him from Broadway to Croatia to New Zealand, performing with bluegrass bands, avant-garde jazz groups, symphony orchestras, klezmer and percussion ensembles. His radio appearances have included A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Weekend Edition. Tony's wide-ranging explorations of banjo history and styles have made him one of the most respected figures in the acoustic music community.

In an interview with Marc Fields, Tony's former student Bela Fleck said, “You think about somebody like Miles Davis or John Coltrane, people who learned everything about jazz and then digested it and it came out a new way. I think Tony's very similar; he's that kind of figure in the banjo world…”