Jazz documentary co-written by CCRI professor to screen during Black History Month
Feb. 11, 2020
An award-winning documentary on jazz music in Rhode Island co-written and directed
by Community College of Rhode Island Videographer and Film Professor Norm Grant and
filmmaker Tom Shaker will be featured as part of the CCRI’s Black History Month festivities
at all four campuses.
Grant co-wrote and co-directed “Do It, Man! The Story of The Celebrity Club,” which
premiered in 2017, with Shaker, a fellow college professor and author. The film tells
the story of Providence’s legendary Celebrity Club, which featured the top national
jazz and R&B acts throughout the 1950s and was widely considered the first interracial
nightclub in New England.
Owned by local businessman Paul Fillipi, who years later went on to open Ballard’s
Beach Resort on Block Island, the Celebrity Club hosted the likes of Louis Armstrong,
Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, uniting people of all cultures through music in
what were remembered as turbulent times for race relations in Rhode Island.
“Do It, Man!” screens for free on the following dates, times and locations during
Black History Month: February 19from 12:30–2 pm at the Liston Campus Auditorium, February
20 from 1–2:30 pm in Room 222 of the Newport County Campus, February 24 from 1–2:30
pm in Room 2344 of the Flanagan Campus, and February 25 from noon–1:30 pm in Room
1130 of the Knight Campus.
The film earned the 2018 Peter C. Rollins Award for Best Documentary Film through
the American Popular Culture Association and the 2018 Best Documentary Film award
at the Shawna Shea Film Festival. “Do It, Man!” also screened at the 2018 Rhode Island
Black Film Festival and the 2018 Miami Independent Film Festival.
“It’s nice to see it screened here,” said Grant, who laid the groundwork for the documentary
more than a decade ago with Shaker. “When you look at the news in recent years, race
is still a relevant story, so I think this story is still relevant because of that.”
Retired CCRI music professor Lloyd Kaplan approached Grant more than a decade ago
about profiling the history of jazz music in Rhode Island. Grant read Who’s Who in
Rhode Island Jazz, a book written by Kaplan and Hall of Fame bass player Bob Petteruti,
and became fascinated with the section detailing the Celebrity Club, hence the idea
to write and produce a documentary on the club’s origins. Grant and Shaker teamed
up on the project and began interviewing subjects for the film in 2005, from local
musicians to noted historians.
In addition to the music, “Do It, Man!” focuses heavily on Rhode Island’s tempestuous
race relations in the ‘50s. Black musicians were often denied access to hotels in
order to perform at local venues, Grant said, but Fillipi owned a handful of rooms
above the Celebrity Club and would allow visiting performers to stay for a week at
a time so they could play each night in front of sold-out crowds. The Celebrity Club,
located in the Randall Square section of Providence, closed in the early ‘60s after
first opening its doors in 1949, but is often credited for ushering in a wave of social
change in Rhode Island.
“If it wasn’t a turning point in race relations in the state,” Grant said, “I think
it was at least a significant step forward.”
A former award-winning photojournalist who has had his work published in the New York
Daily News, Boston Globeand USA Today, Grant worked in CCRI’s Department of Information
Technology before joining the Marketing and Communications Department. He is the college’s
chief videographer and currently teaches Foundations of Video and Audio Production,
Media and Broadcast History and Documentary Production.
Share this story
Latest News
Employee Spotlight: Michael Marrapodi
November 27, 2024
Michael Marrapodi has joined CCRI as the new Executive Director of Online Learning. He has been involved with education since teaching music at a private school during his senior year of college in 1976 and is now an innovative leader in the online learning sector.
Read More
Second-year Biology student, PTK scholar helps feed the homeless one sandwich at a time
November 26, 2024
Eighteen-year-old Rhode Island Promise scholar and Warwick, RI, resident Lucas Johnson revived an old family tradition this past summer with Sandwich Party Sundays – a unique opportunity to spread joy and good cheer to Providence's homeless population each weekend at Kennedy Plaza.
Read More
Alumni Spotlight: Flavia A. Albert, M.A.
November 25, 2024
A Providence, RI, native, and Community College of Rhode Island Class of 2011 alumna, Flavia A. Albert, M.A., is on the verge of releasing her first children's book next month to combine her passion for behavioral health and early childhood development with her love for storytelling.
Read More
CCRI announces partnership with Building Futures to deliver new Apprenticeship Readiness program
November 22, 2024
With the support of a $250,000 workforce investment from the RI Department of Labor and Training (RI-DLT), the college will begin offering apprenticeship readiness programming in January through the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3), a comprehensive apprenticeship readiness curriculum that delivers an industry-recognized credential.
Read More
CCRI recognized as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting
November 20, 2024
For the past two election cycles, the Community College of Rhode Island has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as part of its Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognition program.
Read More
Navy experience guides CCRI alumna in her new career as a full-time Communication professor
November 07, 2024
Assistant Communication and Film/Media professor Jennifer O'Rourke, a Warwick, RI, native and Class of 2007 graduate, is in her second year as a full-time faculty member after serving as a Mass Communication Specialist for the U.S. Navy.
Read More
Second high school joins CCRI's free advanced manufacturing dual-enrollment certificate program
October 29, 2024
One year after CCRI and North Kingstown High School partnered to launch the college's free Advanced Manufacturing Program for high school students interested in earning a Manufacturing and Design Certificate, Mount Pleasant High School has joined the program this fall to extend this unique opportunity to a group of 14 students.
Read More
CCRI receives grant to empower and celebrate First-Generation college students
October 24, 2024
The $1,000 grant will be used to support a First Generation Family Night event at CCRI’s Lincoln Campus on November 7 as part of its First-Generation College Celebration Day programming. First-Generation College Celebration Day is observed each year on November 8 to celebrate the success of first-generation college students, faculty, and staff who were the first in their families to graduate college.
Read More
Vampire love story takes center stage as CCRI Players launch 2024-25 season
October 23, 2024
The CCRI Players, the college's student-run theater group, kick off their fall semester this week at the Bobby Hackett Theatre with an adaptation of Let the Right One In, based off the best-selling 2004 novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Read More
Employee Spotlight: Joshua Seguí-Rodríguez
October 21, 2024
In today’s Employee Spotlight, we meet CCRI's new Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Joshua Seguí-Rodríguez and uncover what inspired him to serve others, how he brought that passion to the forefront as a college student, and his unique skillset beyond the console.
Read More
Alumni Association inducts nine new members into Society of Knights and Squires
October 16, 2024
Nine Community College of Rhode Island alumni were inducted into the college’s Society of Knights and Squires as part of the CCRI Foundation and Alumni Association’s 2024 Outstanding Alumni Awards at the Warwick Campus.
Read More
Theater alum Wong becomes CCRI's fourth to earn Gamm fellowship in 2024-25
October 09, 2024
Allison “Sonny” Wong of Barrington, RI, a Class of 2024 graduate, is one of four fellows selected as part of the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre's 10-month 2024-25 Gamm Fellowship Program, which will be the theatre's 40th anniversary season.
Read More
CCRI celebrates grand opening of new Casino Training Academy at Lincoln Campus
October 03, 2024
The state-of-the-art Training Academy, sponsored by Bally's Corporation, features eight blackjack tables and will provide a simulated gaming environment for the 30 students enrolled in the first cohort of the college's Introduction to Table Games Dealer Training course.
Read More
Editorial: How Philanthropy Fuels Student Success at CCRI
September 25, 2024
With CCRI continuing its goal of providing accessible, high-quality education that leads to strong learning outcomes and successful career pathways, innovative programs and substantial financial support are necessary to ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed.
Read More
Newport Campus opens its doors to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County Teen Center
September 18, 2024
The Community College of Rhode Island has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County to relocate the B&GC’s Teen Center to CCRI’s Newport County Campus as part of CCRI’s Community First initiative.
Read More
Upcoming Events
Mar.
18
March 18, 2024 All Day
Flanagan Campus
May.
7
May 7, 2024 All Day
Sep.
5
September 5, 2024 All Day
Nov.
1
November 1, 2024 All Day
All Campuses
Dec.
4
December 4, 2024 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Knight Campus
Dec.
4
December 4, 2024 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Flanagan Campus
Dec.
4
December 4, 2024 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Knight Campus
Dec.
4
December 4, 2024 8:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Hasbro Children's Hospital
Dec.
5
December 5, 2024 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Knight Campus
Dec.
5
December 5, 2024 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Online