The Jazzman

The Jazzman is about jazz, the lives of the people involved in its making and performance, and more obliquely, about a time in Toronto when jazz played a much larger role in the city’s nightlife than it does today. It should be noted that the writer-producer-director, Josh Koffman, is the grandson of the legendary Moe Koffman, who was one of the biggest players both on stage and behind the scenes in the world of jazz music. The film is not directly based on Koffman’s life, but centres on a rebellious jazz musician, John Kadly (Corey Sevier), his early childhood, his youth, his romantic life, and his struggles to fulfill his calling as a jazz drummer while living in the shadow of his jazz legend father (Michael Ironside).The film is set against the backdrop of Moe Koffman`s music. Speaking of his film as it was beginning production, Josh Koffman said, “This film explores the Toronto jazz scene in a way that has never been shown before. I think everyone will connect with it not just in Toronto but around the world.”