Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between

Hubris, anger, prejudice...doo-wop, reggae, rock...expectations, heartbreak, transformation...Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between examines the fifty-year career of this genre-bending, biracial singer-songwriter and asks why “the name Garland Jeffreys either means nothing to you or everything to you.” Friends and admirers such as avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson, actors Harvey Keitel and Roger Guenveur Smith, and singer-songwriters Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker and Vernon Reid provide commentary on the quixotic nature of success as well as personal experiences with the dark side of the music business. Critics Robert Christgau and David Hajdu offer contextualizing takes on Garland’s artistry while Garland and his wife, Claire Jeffreys, fill in the story with their uniquely honest takes. A wild and emotional journey, the film ends with a once-tormented man now fulfilled and satisfied despite never reaching, as his daughter puts it, “big fame.”