Talking into your mic real quick.

Yes.

One two two two one two one two.

One two.

One.

Two.

One more.

Yeah, absolutely.

And then I think well be good.

[percussion music] My grandmother used to say don't think you can go anywhere you can just be ordinar because you won't get anywhere.

(Sunny You have to be extra ordinary.

(Stephanie) The D.C.

Jazz Festival is running on shoestrings.

It was at a point where it either grows or it dies.

(Michelle She was handed a huge challenge.

And Sunny made it happen.

[piano music] (Sunny) I cannot imagine life without music.

I play piano to write.

Storytelling has always been, an aspect of my artistry.

♪Ba do do do do de da de...♪ ♪Oh say yes when we remember...♪ (Sunny) It started at nine.

When at the kitchen table, when I heard Sarah Vaughan in the background and I said to my grandmother, who's that?

She said, That's Sarah Vaughan.

And I said, oh, I want to sing like her, ♪fly... bird...♪ ♪... high in the sky up above♪ ♪oh, because we're in love.♪♪ (Sunny) It all started with my grandmother.

That was a butterfly effect moment right there.

[Instrumental music] [ambient traffic sounds] [jazz music] [radio playing] (Sunny) Well, Washington, D.C.

is my home.

I will never, ever leave.

This is the big chair in Anacostia.

This was a playground for me and my family.

We would come down here and climb this chair, jump on the top and see what we thought was the world.

(Sunny) The Frederick Douglass home was just fascinating because as a kid, I used to go to school right next door.

I think it was a really a place of possibility because we learned a lot about Frederick Douglass.

For me, it felt like when I came here, I could dream bigger.

Anacostia is really the heart of it.

This really is, the real heart of my time with my mom.

This is when we were all together here in this neighborhood.

And I think that's why it's so meaningful to me.

(Sunny) Six of us, three boys, three girls, single mom.

Well, my mom worked at the State Department, and she worked all day, every day for us.

So we raised ourselves here.

I didn't even understan until I got to be a mom myself.

The sacrifices that she made for us.

I think she woke up one day and said, I really can't do this anymore.

And so my grandmother stepped i and she took us in to her home for a year.

And then we all got separated to different family members.

And it took me a long time to forgive her for that.

(Sunny My grandmother was a workhorse.

I felt like I was a indentured servant in her house.

Her parents were slave croppers.

She understood.

So we were up earl in the morning tending to soil.

You know, mowing the lawn at ten.

You know, all these things tha she made us do every single day to make sure that we understood that it was about having a great work ethic And you work for what you need.

And when you do that, it's just a challenge and you just move through it.

And I actually got that work ethic from her.

And I know to this day, that's actually why I'm sitting here talking to you.

[jazz playing] (Sunny) It's wonderful isnt it?

I see family in the house, yes.

We're all products of Howard University.

love it.

I was 18 when I started singing professionally.

Well, I moved to New York and worked in reservations at a hotel.

That was my day gig, and I performed at night and on the weekends.

So it was definitely not a an easy road.

There were sometimes when I even questioned whether or not I should be a musician.

So there was this amazing producer named Morace Landy.

I met his wife and she was my roommate, and she heard me singing in the shower.

♪...♪ ♪I had been hiding.♪♪ So she called her husband and said, “listen”.

♪...♪♪ And so he said to her when she gets out of the shower, have her call me.

So I went in the studio and we did some fantastic music together.

I think I really realized from there that my voice was was a jazz voice.

It wasn't a pop voice.

It was really a jazz voice.

♪...♪♪ That's when it all started.

From that, I went on to do 15 years and four recordings and playin with some of the amazing artist in the world.

♪...♪♪ (Sunny) So the moment I decided I was not going to perform, give It a break, let's say that, was whe my daughter was six months old.

I was performing for a week in Italy by myself, and I would go back to my room.

Every show was sold out and I would get, you know people would buy CDs and they'd say, how amazing you are.

And, you know.

All the adrenaline.

My adrenaline was at high every night.

But I would go back to my room.

I'd be alone.

And it was sad.

And I came back from that because the city was honoring Shirley Horn.

And they asked me to be the opening act for Shirley.

I did my soundtrack sitting in the back, an we'd be sitting together and I'm she's telling me about her career, and I'm saying, you know, I don't know if I want to do mom full time.

And saying it's a lot.

And she's shared with me that you can always come back to this, but you will only be a mom for 18 years.

You'll be a mom forever but you only have a real chance to make a big footprint on your child's life.

For those first 18 years, and you want to do a really good job so you can give this up and come back to it.

And I really appreciated that moment because a few months later, I did just that.

[jazz music] [beeping sound] beep, beep, beep (Omrao) So we're here, ahead of, you know, next weekend.

We're at Recreation Pier in what this is called down here at the wharf.

We've changed up a little bit.

This year, the Meet the Artist is actually going to be rotated a little bit.

This is a fun experience.

We want to start by embodying that ourselves so we can be at our best.

There's a lot behind the scenes that goes on in terms of all the funding, the sponsors, the embassies.

Venues, larger venues like The Wharf, etc.. So Sunny really takes the lead on all of that.

(Sunny) Okay So make sure that's articulated.

We've said that in an email, but I love this year we're saying the over communicated piece.

I love that it doesn't surprise me now.

It would have surprised me two years ago even because I always thought of myself as a performer.

And so to be on this side of the lens of the performance lens is pretty amazing.

I never thought I'd be leading a jazz presenting organization.

Just... it's astounding.

[music - artists warming up] We're ready (Sunny) Good evening, DC!

[repetitive rhythm and percussion playing] (Sunny) So in 2008, it was Charlie Fishman, who brought me to the DC Jazz Festival.

[jazz music] He was the manager of Dizzy Gillespie and he and his wife, Stephanie.

Peter started the then Duke Ellingto Jazz Festival on a paper napkin.

In Adams Morgan, at Cashion's.

And, he called me first as a performer.

(Stephanie I've known Sunny for 22 years.

My husband, Charles Fishman, was Sunny Sumter's manager when she was singing.

I had seen her at a number of fundraising events, performing and supportin community organizations already as a singer.

He called me up and said, hey, can you come as a consultant to help me build partnerships?

Come and help me figure out how we make this bigger.

[jazz music] (Stephanie) What we realized around year nine, the DC Jazz Festival was running on shoestrings.

It was at a point where it either grows or dies.

Sunnys super power to build relationships, to have artistic vision, and to have organizational execution was what was needed and she had it al and it made all the difference.

[ambient noise] I got to go.

Yeah, (Claude) I think Sunny brought a a vision and the same determination that Charlie brought.

But Sunny was an executer.

[three minutes, everybody.]

(stage manager) Three minutes.

(Michelle) She went through years of really being chief cook and bottle washer.

She's an incredible person.

She really worked hard.

[ambient noise] (Sunny) there was a lot of sleepless nights.

Because sometimes we would approve a budget.

And then we were building the cash for the budget throughout the year.

We'd have committed funds but we'd have to track it down.

We'd have pending funds, but we'd have to make sure that proposal was approved.

(Claude) I think the thought was to make it public and make it free to draw as many people as possible.

(Sunny) There was a tough time, and I woke up to find out that my salary had been cut.

It broke my heart because we had staff that we had to furlough.

That was a lesson learned for me that that was never going to happen again.

So yes, I mean, it was it was a struggle.

So we started to come up with a different model around earned income.

We started to reach out to a lot of group sales.

We started thinking about tiers.

We thought we'd be a community festival that would engage neighborhoods in celebration of jazz, and we're now this international incredible thing.

And when I look back on it, sometimes I'm like, you know, it's really because grandma said, no.

We don't say can't.

You can't do what?

Get your ass up.

We did a lot just like jazz.

We improvised.

(Claude) It took several years to get out of the deficit position, but we finally got there.

And then everybody wanted to be a part of it.

(Kurt) I'm coming for you.

♪Take them all up♪ ♪and get them set up again.♪ ♪... ♪♪ (Claude) Jazz is is America's greatest music.

(Michelle) It's a collaboration of people who feel the music.

(Claude) You cannot describe jazz.

I mean its (Sunny) every time, it's different.

Every time, it's magical.

(Kurt) The art form is asking you to address your personal feelings.

You got to be willing to give yourself over to an audience.

100%.

(Sunny) It's storytelling.

It's all these great things.

And in some ways, this music we call jazz is is beyond all of that.

♪She's amazing, simply amazing.♪♪ (Sunny) It's really changed the trajectory of my life.

[Cheering and applause] (Sunny) If I, you know, if I look back in ten years, it's what was the most challenging period of my life.

It was in 2020.

We start hearing the news about a pandemic.

My mom has just had a heart attack.

Then everything shuts down.

A week later, my mom goes into the hospital.

She's having problems breathing.

We get a call that they have put he automatically on a ventilator, and they wouldn't let me see her.

I want her to see my face.

I waited eight hours until there was a changing of staff that somebody would have a heart.

We didn't say goodbye to her.

We couldn't get a chance to touch her, hold her hand, nothing and she died alone.

When it was just, It was.

Yeah.

It was one of the darkest days ever.

♪Hallelujah♪ ♪Hallelujah♪ ♪Hallelujah♪ ♪Oh, God♪♪ (Sunny) So much.

I didn't say I wish I could have said.

She really did do the best she could.

But definitely think about I wish I had more time with her, because I would have been able to tell her a lot more about I understand how much I understand how much I understand now.

I stand tall today because of my mom.

Then I tested and I got Covid and I got sick and it was fast.

So I call my doctor, she says go to emergency room right now.

I got in within a half an hour.

They had me in ICU.

[E.R.

announcement] So they gave me Remdesivi and I stayed in for two weeks.

I was on 24 hour oxygen tank for another six weeks, but it took me a long time to get my lungs back.

And then that summer was when my dad got cancer.

And he stayed in the hospital for a few weeks.

I went every day because I didn't get to go with my mom.

But he was so interesting because the whole time I was sick, he called me and he never told me that he wasn't going to make it.

He just just wanted to make sure I was okay.

♪Hallelujah...♪ ♪Hallelujah...♪♪ [cheers and applause] (Stephanie) Sometimes I am amazed how cruel you know the world and and fate can be.

I think jazz and that being part of her made all the difference for Sunny.

(Sunny) Oh my goodness music was such a part of my healing.

I'm so glad that I had that time with my dad.

I would play music and he would sing.

Nothing prepares you for the loss of a parent.

It is it is so heartbreaking.

He said, love you, Love on your children.

Because he didn't.

He wasn't present for us.

I have no regrets because my children, they are so special and I don't think I could have done the same if I had been singing.

So I'm glad that I made the choice.

[piano music] (Sunny) To me music is like water.

I need it every day.

It nourishes my mind, my body and my spirit.

I've completely fell in love with the mission.

The mission to celebrate jazz in all its forms, in the nation' capital, and to build tomorrow's jazz fan to keep jazz as a thriving art form.

This is my True North.

(Stephanie Sunny is the epitome of the D.C.

jazz community.

When I look at the jazz festival now and how it makes me feel so proud, so amazed, because Sunny's amazing grace that she pushed through and didn't walk away.

(Peter) We're definitely punchin above our weight in terms of the budget and the types of quality of acts.

(Michelle) The D.C.

Jazz Festival is an established destination jazz festival, and it has been a long haul.

(unknown voice) ... you work.

You earned it... Very good.

(Sunny) We have this family.

We have this community.

The jazz festival is their home.

(Jean) Music is always home.

It's always home.

(Christie) I've sung and performed all over the world.

But what's most meaningful for me is performing in my hometown in front of people that have watched me grow and watch me blossom from a young college student into a professional woman.

♪...♪ ♪Im struggling through love.♪♪ (Sunny) I am surrounded by the arts, and I had no idea how much I needed to be.

And the fact that I get to go to work every day and do this, Im still pinching myself.

And I just thank my grandmother like grandma if you had never had Lullaby Birdland playing in the background with Sarah Vaughan, who knows?

(Sunny) Oh, that is a good question.

Is there a particular song, that I love that really describes me?

I think it's probably the song, The Best is Yet to come because... That's just my personality.

I've always feeling like I'm always trying to do better, be better, be, you know, learn more.

♪You came alon and everything started to hum♪ ♪Still it's a real good♪ ♪bet the best is yet to come.♪ ♪The best is yet to come and bab ♪won't that be fine?♪ ♪You think you've seen the sun♪ ♪but♪ ♪You ain't seen it shine♪ ♪Wait 'til the warm-up's underway♪ ♪Wait 'til our lips have met♪ ♪wait 'til you see that sunshine ♪You ain't seen nothing yet.♪ ♪The best is yet to come.♪ ♪And babe, won't it be fine?♪ ♪The best is yet to come.♪ ♪Come the day you're mine♪ ♪Come the day you are mine.♪ ♪I'm gonna teach you to fly♪ ♪We've only tasted the wine♪ ♪We're gonna drain the cup♪ ♪dry.♪ ♪Wait 'til your charms are right for these arms♪ ♪to surround♪ ♪you think you've flown before♪ ♪but you ain't left the ground♪ ♪oh wait♪ ♪'til you're locked in my embrac ♪Wait 'til I draw you♪ ♪near♪ ♪Wait 'til you see that sunshine place♪ ♪Ain't nothin' like it here♪ ♪The best is yet to come♪ ♪and babe, won't it be fine?

The best is yet to come♪ ♪Come the day you're mine.♪♪