Bruce Ricker
Encyclopedia
Bruce Ricker was a jazz and blues documentarian. He is best known for his collaboration with Clint Eastwood
on films about jazz and blues legends.
, Ricker was educated at the City College of New York
where he earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. His first film was the critically acclaimed The Last of the Blue Devils, a 1979 feature-length documentary about Kansas City
jazz during its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s.
Eastwood was the executive producer for Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser
, a 1988 documentary produced by Ricker and Charlotte Zwerin, who also directed.
Ricker developed the idea for the Eastwood-directed "Piano Blues" segment of The Blues, the seven-part 2003 series executive produced by Martin Scorsese
.
Eastwood served as a producer or executive producer on documentaries Ricker made for television: Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005), Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends (2007), Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (2009) and Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way
(2010).
Ricker also directed and produced the 1997 TV documentary Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows, a documentary that aired on PBS' American Masters
series in 2000.
He died in 2011 at the age of 68 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
.
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
on films about jazz and blues legends.
Life and career
Born in Staten IslandStaten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, Ricker was educated at the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
where he earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. His first film was the critically acclaimed The Last of the Blue Devils, a 1979 feature-length documentary about Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
jazz during its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s.
Eastwood was the executive producer for Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser is a documentary about the life of Thelonious Monk. Produced by Clint Eastwood, Bruce Ricker, and directed/co-produced by Charlotte Zwerin, it features live performances by Monk and his group, and posthumous interviews with friends and family...
, a 1988 documentary produced by Ricker and Charlotte Zwerin, who also directed.
Ricker developed the idea for the Eastwood-directed "Piano Blues" segment of The Blues, the seven-part 2003 series executive produced by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
.
Eastwood served as a producer or executive producer on documentaries Ricker made for television: Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005), Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends (2007), Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (2009) and Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way
Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way
Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way is a 2010 documentary film about jazz pianist legend Dave Brubeck. It was directed and produced by Bruce Ricker with Clint Eastwood as executive producer for Turner Classic Movies to commemorate Brubeck's 90th birthday in December 2010. It aired on his birthday,...
(2010).
Ricker also directed and produced the 1997 TV documentary Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows, a documentary that aired on PBS' American Masters
American Masters
American Masters is a PBS television show which produces biographies on the artists, actors and writers of the United States who have left a profound impact on the nation's popular culture. It is produced by WNET in New York City...
series in 2000.
He died in 2011 at the age of 68 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.