Pursue your dreams is the main message taken away from “Jazz in the Diamond District.” However, the diamond needs more polishing.
"Pursue your dreams" is the main message taken away from “Jazz in the Diamond District." However, the diamond needs more polishing. The story of aspiring singer Jasmine “Jazz” Morgan (played by Monique Cameron) starts with Jazz at home with her dying mother. When her mother succumbs to a battle with cancer, she drops out of college and pursues a singing career while waiting tables at Ben’s Chili Bowl in her native town, Washington, D.C. While at one of the district’s nightclubs, she’s invited onstage for what becomes an impromptu “audition” as the lead singer of the city’s best hip hop band that is managed by local barber Gabe Marx (played by Wood Harris). Stardom for Jazz looks like it’s becoming a reality, as narrated by her younger, na∩ve sister Leah (played by Erica Chamblee, co-writer of the film along with director Lindsey Christian) who is working towards her dream of attending the California Institute of Arts as a dancer. As Jazz receives accolades from fellow residents who come to the sets, she decides to shop her demo CD to recording companies in Los Angeles and New York. She gets a few bites, but money stands in her way. She asks for funds from her non-supportive father Blair Morgan (played by Clifton Powell) and runs into a brick wall. Daddy Morgan tells her she’s not disciplined like her younger sister and suggests she enroll back in school. Jazz ends up trusting a local “producer” with connections to music executives in New York. She arrives in the Big Apple, only to find out she was taken for a ride, the least of her problems. While at what she thinks is an industry party, she experiences a traumatic incident. Jazz then heads back to D.C. to find herself out of her singing job, among another surprise. The film gives you another insight into Washington, D.C. besides the usual political beltway scene, however, the diamond doesn’t shine so bright. With no inkling about her future in the industry, a missed opportunity to expound upon sexual abuse and assault and safe sex, I give the movie 2.5 out of five stars. ______ Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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