Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge, a new documentary about beloved late multi-instrumentalist Kofi Burbridge, has been released for streaming. You can watch the new documentary for $1.98 here.
According to the film’s description on the Lest We Forget website, “Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge is a 35-minute documentary that honors the life, music and influence of musician Kofi Burbridge – an American keyboardist and flautist of extraordinary talent. Kofi is perhaps best known for his 22+ year musical association with guitarist Derek Trucks. Includes rare in-studio performance footage and warm candid interview comments from Nigel Hall, Jimmy Herring, Tim Lefebvre, Adam Nitti, Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Roy Vogt, Regi Wooten, Victor Wooten and Oteil Burbridge.”
Last April, Lest We Forget shared the trailer for the new Kofi Burbridge documentary, produced by Ace Entertainment, Inc., on YouTube. Alongside assorted clips of Burbridge, the trailer highlights some of the talking heads featured in the film as they speak about the prodigious multi-instrumentalist we lost far too soon in 2019 at the age of 57.
“When good musicians come around, you hear about ’em,” notes Victor Wooten, who became acquainted with Burbridge early in his life as a fellow childhood music prodigy.
“He just made everything better and everything cool,” laughs Derek Trucks, Kofi’s longtime collaborator on projects like the Derek Trucks Band and Tedeschi Trucks Band. “It didn’t matter what it was. It just instantly had a purpose. … Everyone loved him. He was a people person, and he really connected with a lot of people. And that’s the thing, man. He got a lot of great work done while he was here. He left a real legacy.”
Continues Trucks, “You don’t meet many geniuses in your life, and you really don’t get a chance to share a huge chunk of your life with them, so I keep coming back to that. It was a hell of a gift.
“Kofi had such an open mind,” explains his brother, Oteil, himself a well-regarded professional musician. “Such an incredible imagination. … and he was always my teacher. He was always so far ahead of me ’cause they figured out he had perfect pitch when he was seven years old. … Kofi was so far ahead of everyone else that I found it difficult to play with other people—and I thought Kofi was normal.”
“Kofi had perfect pitch,” offers Jimmy Herring, “But he just could instantly play whatever he heard. He was one of those people. And he would just move mouths, man.”
“Every time he would play with us,” notes Lettuce guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff, “It would be like, ‘Shh, here’s the Kofi solo. Listen. … It would take me a lifetime to figure out what he had goin’ on.”
Explains Lettuce keyboardist Nigel Hall, “He played with the attitude of ‘intent before content,’ and there’s something that he did that resonated so much with my spirit.”
Watch the trailer for Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge below:
Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge – Official Trailer
[Video: Studio Jams]
Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge is the latest installment in the Lest We Forget film series run by producer and Ace Entertainment president Tom Emmi which shines a spotlight on influential artists we’ve lost. Ace Entertainment also produces the popular Studio Jams video series. Browse through all the Studio Jams content here.
A portion of all proceeds from the streaming of this and future documentaries will go to support efforts from various charities dear to those being honored. “This is an important part our effort,” adds Emmi in a press release. “It’s a meaningful way to add to the legacy for each of these musicians.”
Proceeds from Lest We Forget: Kofi Burbridge will be donated to the Kofi Burbridge Music Matters Fund in partnership with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. This 501(c)3 foundation helps to keep music alive in schools by providing brand-new musical instruments to under-funded music programs nationwide.
For more information on Lest We Forget, head here. To watch the new Kofi Burbridge documentary, head here.
[Originally published 4/15/20]