About the Event
The film portrait Basketball is Jazz – The Ernest Butler Story (90min) is an homage to an exceptional personality. In the documentary Ernie provides the background for the quote he is best known for: "Basketball is Jazz". Ernie embodies both basketball and jazz, having grown up with both in Indiana.
Already as a child he witnessed his mother and his aunt arguing over Duke Ellington, which according to his mother, was ‘black classical music’ and her sister opting more for Count Basie’s swing music one could dance to. Ernie embraced both until he was turned on to Charlie Parker at the young age of 12. First playing football in high school, he soon turned to basketball which was Indiana’s top sport and listened to bebop played in the bars of Indianapolis.
Yet, it wasn’t until he came to Germany to teach history at an American high school in Gießen in the early sixties that he picked up playing the horn. Up until this day, Ernie’s love for teaching, coaching basketball and playing the saxophone remains boundless.
Following the film screening, Ernest Butler and his band will perform live on stage.
Photo: Scene from "Basketball is Jazz" ©Etienne Bellay
About the Speakers
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Etienne Bellay (left in the picture) was a junior high school student in Ernest Butler’s World History class at the Munich American High School at Perlacher Forst. This early eye-opening experience led him to take Butler’s Black History course in his senior year (1971). Fifty years later after having heard Ernie play sax in Garmisch and at Mr. B’s in Munich, Etienne asked Ernie whether he and a film crew led by his daughter Mavie could portray him on film, first for a MAHS reunion in D.C. in October 2021, followed by the full-length father/daughter documentary called Basketball is Jazz – The Ernest Butler Story, first shown in Munich’s Filmmuseum in December 2022.
Ernest Butler (right in the picture) was born in Muncie, Indiana and grew up listening to Jazz and playing football and basketball in high school before studying at Ball State University to be a high school history teacher. After a short stint in the army, he returned to Germany to teach high school in Gießen, where he also played basketball for the MTSV 1846, In 1965 Gießen won the German basketball Championship with Ernie throwing a buzzer beater. Later on, he continued to play basketball for FC Bayern and teaching history at the Munich American High School, where he also coached around 50 women’s teams. Earnest Butler at 89 is still coaching a woman’s team in Grünwald and continues to play a smooth sax.
Ernest Butler will be accompanied live by the same formation as in his portrait: Bernd Huber on guitar and Sigi Schweiger on standup bass.
A few Stills from the Film
Etienne Bellay (left) and Ernest Butler (right) talking in a cafeteria.
Ernest Butler (left) talking to Etienne Bellay (right) in a gymnasium.
Ernest Butler (left) showing Etienne Bellay (right) vinyl records.
Registration
Tickets cost 5€. Information about registration will follow soon.
Location
Amerikahaus München
Karolinenplatz 3, 80333, München
Contact
Head of Programs – Culture and Politics
Email
raabe@amerikahaus.de
programm@amerikahaus.de
Telephone
+49 89 552537-14
Notice of Filming and Photography
Photography, audio, and video recording may occur at any Amerikahaus events. By entering the event premises, you consent to being photographed and/or recorded (both audio and video) and to having your image released, published, exhibited or reproduced for promotional and archival purposes, news, our publications, press, and inclusion on our website and social media.