By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Jazz was born in New Orleans, but some of its deepest roots arrived by sea.

The rhythms, phrasing, and communal spirit that shaped early New Orleans music drew from many sources, including the Caribbean and Cuba, where African traditions fused with Spanish colonial influence into forms that would echo across the Gulf. That shared lineage is the subject of A Tuba to Cuba, the acclaimed 2018 documentary screening Wednesday, April 29, at Coral Gables Art Cinema as part of Jazz Appreciation Month.

The one-night presentation includes a post-film Q&A with co-director T.G. Herrington, moderated by Miami cultural programmer Carter Jackson-Brown.

A father’s unfinished dream

The emotional center of the film is Preservation Hall and the family behind it.

Narrated by Ben Jaffe, son of Preservation Hall founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, the documentary follows the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Cuba in December 2015. The trip was more than a tour. It was the fulfillment of Allan Jaffe’s long-held wish to bring the band to Cuba and trace the musical pathways that helped shape New Orleans jazz.

Allan Jaffe, a tuba player from Pennsylvania, arrived in New Orleans on his honeymoon and stayed. In 1961, he and Sandra founded Preservation Hall in the French Quarter, creating a rare interracial musical space in the Jim Crow South where Black master musicians could perform for integrated audiences. Over time, Preservation Hall became one of the most revered institutions in American music.

Jaffe died in 1987 before making the Cuba trip himself. His son’s journey gives the film both historical purpose and personal weight.

Where the music recognizes itself

What the band finds in Cuba is familiarity.

The film’s strongest moments come in spontaneous encounters between New Orleans and Cuban musicians who seem to recognize one another’s language almost instantly. Horn lines, rhythms, call-and-response patterns, and improvisational instincts meet across borders that politics once hardened but music easily crosses.

The result is a documentary about heritage rather than nostalgia. It treats jazz not as museum culture, but as a living conversation still capable of surprise.

A visually rich collaboration

The film was co-directed by Herrington and renowned photographer Danny Clinch.

Herrington’s background includes commercial filmmaking and narrative work, while Clinch has spent decades documenting musicians ranging from Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam to jazz legends and contemporary performers. Their combined sensibilities give A Tuba to Cuba unusual visual energy, balancing documentary observation with the feel of a road film and concert experience.

The New York Times called the film “joyous, wide-ranging,” while other critics praised both its music and cinematography.

Stay for the conversation

The post-screening discussion adds unusual value to the evening.

Herrington will appear in person for a Q&A moderated by Carter Jackson-Brown, founder of Miami’s Ad Hoc Cinema, a respected mobile film-and-music presentation series supported by the Knight Foundation. For audiences interested in documentary craft, New Orleans culture, Cuba, or the relationship between music and migration, the conversation may be as worthwhile as the screening itself.

Why this matters

Coral Gables Art Cinema has built a reputation for programming films that reward curiosity rather than passive viewing. A Tuba to Cuba fits that model: accessible, intelligent, and rooted in culture that still resonates across South Florida.

For jazz listeners, film lovers, and anyone interested in how American art forms are shaped by the wider world, this is one of the week’s smartest tickets.

What / When / Where

A Tuba to Cuba
Wednesday, April 29
5:45 p.m.
Coral Gables Art Cinema
260 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables

Post-film Q&A with co-director T.G. Herrington and moderator Carter Jackson-Brown. Tickets available at gablescinema.com.