Historic journeys

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns isn’t one to easily lend his name to colognes, designer jeans, spaghetti sauce or any of the other entrapments that sometimes come with fame.

But when Tauck – a leading tour company for guided land journeys and small ship cruises – approached Burns and his partner, Dayton Duncan, about teaming up on a series of events and tours surrounding American culture and history, he happily said yes.

That’s when Ken Burns American Journeys came to being.

“We’re in the business of history,” says Burns, whose documentaries include “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” “Jazz” and “The National Parks: American’s Best Idea.”

And he says that his and Duncan’s goals in filmmaking pair extremely well with Tauck’s mission of sharing America’s story in a memorable and compelling way.

“We both try to engage our audiences, increase their knowledge, and make strong emotional connections with the people and stories from America’s past that help define who we are today,” Burns says.

Adds Duncan: “Tauck approaches tours the same way we do filmmaking: with care and passion and a lot of fun.”

So when they “gloriously collaborated,” as Burns puts it, with Tauck on the projects, they came up with three components for travelers.

The first is a set of itineraries called “Crafted by Tauck & Ken Burns”; the second is a series of filmed narratives titled “Stories by Ken Burns”; and the last is “Ken Burns Events.”

The Crafted itineraries – one focusing on the Civil War, the other on national parks – while not escorted by either Burns or Duncan, have been carefully selected, and to use their word, “choreographed” by them.

“It’s very difficult for people to do these things on their own,” says Duncan. “And guests can expect a deeper experience than they would have had if they had gone on their own.”

“Spirit of the Desert: The National Parks of the Southwest” takes you on a 10-day journey from Grand Junction, Colo., to Las Vegas, and through six national parks along what Burns terms “the most interesting, unbelievable landscapes in America” – including the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park and Zion National Park. The tours operate from May until October.

“If you really want to witness the landscape of the national parks when they’re most beautiful, at their best, you want to see them at sunrise and sunset,” says Duncan, emphasizing those were the times when they typically shot most of their footage for “The National Parks.”

“Most Hallowed Ground,” running only in September and October, is an 11-day tour that focuses on places covered in Burns’ “The Civil War” documentary.

Beginning in Washington, D.C., and ending in Richmond, Va., you’ll visit historic places like Antietam, Gettysburg, Harper’s Ferry and Appomattox. There are extras, like being privy to guided visits, living history re-enactments and exclusive presentations and talks by Civil War experts.

Travel aboard the motor coaches of select Tauck tours in the U.S. and you’ll be treated to “Ken Burns Stories,” which is a production of more than 30 unique behind-the-scenes documentary films.

Burns and Duncan give their personal perspectives, experiences, stories and in-depth commentary on national parks, the Civil War and jazz through destinations including Charleston, S.C.; Savannah, Ga.; New Orleans; Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; the canyon lands of Arizona and Utah; and California’s “gold coast” from Sonoma to Los Angeles.

The last of the collaborations is “Ken Burns Events,” single-time and shorter-length journeys in which Burns makes a personal appearance.

A five-day Civil War event was held in Washington, D.C., in May to a sold-out group. In October comes the Tauck Jazz Event, which takes its guests through New Orleans’ French Quarter. Included are a special performance by Ellis Marsalis, a private steamboat cruise and a keynote address by Burns.

Plans are in the works for a “Tauck Winter in Yellowstone Event” in 2012.

“Who are we?” Burns asks in explaining why he chose to tag-team with Tauck. “Who are Americans? As we explore, we ask that question.”

To answer it, he travels 300-plus days a year for his work to put it all together and give fans of his documentaries and guests of Tauck a heaping helping of American culture.

As for the places they’ve filmed – those beloved national parks and battlefields and jazz clubs – Burns and Duncan just want people to visit and to see them the way they saw them: as filmmakers.

“Americans should be persuaded, encouraged, and required to see these places,” says Duncan. “These kinds of stories are the lifeblood of what we hope to bring to the trips.”