Narrator: On this special all jazz episode of "State of the Arts," we bring together some of the greats, past and present -- Experimental genius Chick Corea... NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart... Jazz ambassador Dorthaan Kirk.

Kirk: Please welcome Buster Williams.

Narrator: And Samara Joy.

One of the jazz world's newest stars.

Joy: [ Singing ]Long as I live, I'll love you for all eternity.

Narrator: Join us as we go on location with some of the greatest talents in jazz.

[ Cheers and applause ] Announcer: The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, encouraging excellence and engagement in the arts since 1966, is proud to co-produce "State of the Arts" with Stockton University.

Additional support is provided by the Pheasant Hill Foundation... Philip E. Lian and Joan L. Mueller in memory of Judith McCartin Scheide ...and these friends of "State of the Arts".

[ Piano plays ] Narrator: Jazz music is rooted in the past, but the greats are always making it new.

In 2019, "State of the Arts" met the legendary Chick Corea not long before he died from a rare cancer at age 79.

[ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: We met up with Chick Corea at NJPAC for a performance with the Grammy-winning group Trilogy featuring Chick, along with fellow jazz world greats bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade.

Corea: I've known Christian McBride and Brian Blade for a long time.

Separately and together.

Then when -- when I put the first of this trio together, it just -- it had a -- the synergy clicked right away.

McBride: Familiar with the names like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart?

Well, Chick Corea is our living version of that.

Narrator 2: Chick arrived mid-afternoon after a month long tour in Japan with no sign of jet lag.

The first order of business was a session with photographer Wolfgang Wiesner.

Chick has long admired his portraits of other jazz legends like Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter.

At 78, it's clear that there is no other place Chick Corea would rather be than at the piano.

He warmed up with jazz tunes and a Mozart concerto as technicians fine tune the piano and audio amps.

Corea: I was practicing some of the stuff we were going to do tonight.

And then I think the thing you were hearing that you thought was Mozart was Mozart.

[ Laughs ] That's one of the concerti I try to keep under my fingers to perform, actually.

I performed that -- It's number 24, C minor.

Narrator: After the soundcheck, we sat down with the legendary musician for a chat.

We began by asking about some of his early influences.

Corea: My prized memories and experiences playing with Sarah Vaughan.

She's one of my favorite singer-musicians of all time.

Vaughan: [ Singing ] Feeling like someone in love should fall.

[ Scatting ] Corea: And I got to work with her for about a year and a half.

She was, you know, she was bigger than life when I met her.

But then right away, she became very, very down to earth and very friendly and very encouraging and, uh, like -- like I was coming, in 1967, I was coming through a period of really wanting to play freely and -- and break musical rules and do kind of wild things.

[ Fast-paced jazz music plays ] I started to do that a bit on the gig with her, behind her, you know, like change the harmonies and she just encouraged it.

She really liked it a lot.

[ Jazz music plays ] [ Jazz music plays ] Well, Miles was right after Sarah, and actually while I was playing with Sarah, I got the call to go play with Miles, and I had to cancel a gig that I had with Sarah coming up in two weeks, and she really was mad at me for a while.

[ Jazz music plays ] [ Jazz music plays ] [ Applause ] Narrator: In the '70s, Chick Corea filled stadiums with rock-inspired music.

The press dubbed it "fusion."

Corea: Those kind of words to describe music usually come from, uh, from writers who write about music, not the musicians.

Musicians never called that music "fusion," ever.

'Cause every music we -- Every time we play a song, it's always fusion.

It's a fusion of something or other.

But in the '70s, the media got a hold of that term.

I just used to call it hard jazz.

[ Laughs ] You know, because, uh, one of the elements that -- that a lot of us took and used musically was a -- it was kind of a rock and roll backbeat.

And then myself and John McLaughlin used an electric guitar with a sound that sounded like a rock guy, but -- but a rock musician could never play the guitar like John McLaughlin.

[ Fast-paced jazz music plays ] [ Crowd vocalizing ] [ Crowd vocalizing ] Well, I've been a musician all my life.

That's what I love to do.

I like to play.

And more and more, I love the effect of the music.

It just makes people brighten up.

[ Crowd vocalizing ] My recent album is a little bit about that.

It's called "Antidote" because we as musicians and artists, we're the antidote to things not going so well.

Or strife, cruelty, inhumane things.

We're the antidote.

[ Jazz music plays ] [ Song ends ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: In the jazz world, great sidemen sometimes end up leading their own groups.

That's what drummer Billy Hart did after playing with Shirley Horn, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock.

We met up with Billy in 2022.

[ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: Legendary drummer and Montclair resident Billy Hart is a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.

Without a doubt, one of America's highest honors.

Hart: It was a great surprise.

Huge surprise.

I'm very lucky and honored.

I'm honored to get it.

Reeves: ...to present you with this award this evening.

You are so deserving.

And thank you.

Inverson: He's on over 500 records, and by some calculations, he's the most recorded modern jazz drummer.

Billy Hart was born in 1940 and came of age in the great explosion of small group modern jazz.

You know, as a teenager, he got to see Miles Davis and John Coltrane live and up close, and he eventually played with most of the greats.

Hart: Well, Ethan is one of my closest friends.

He's been involved in my music, but I've also been involved in his music.

Inverson: His playing has a kind of euphoria in the beats.

When I was just a teenager collecting records, I'd always buy the album if Billy Hart was on drums because I knew that that euphoria, the swing, would be there.

And that's why he's on 500 records, by the way, 'cause it always feels so good.

[ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: Billy's maternal grandmother lived in an apartment in Washington, D.C., across the hall from the legendary saxophone player Buck Hill.

Hart: Buck Hill, I walked in his apartment.

He came home from work and gave me two Charlie Parker records.

I heard the music.

I fell in love with it.

That's the whole Billy Hart story right there.

I fell in love with the music.

There was no other way.

There was no other way that I would have heard that music.

[ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: Buck Hill continued to mentor the young drummer, and at some point, invited the teenager to sit in on a Sunday afternoon jam session at one of Washington's local jazz clubs.

Hart: I went down to this jam session and I played a couple of tunes, and I didn't do terrible, but it wasn't great.

But about the third tune, I did terrible.

And then I was heartbroken because I -- you know, I knew it was bad.

So I began to be really hurt and depressed.

And after I got off from the bandstand, I walked somewhere to be by myself so I could lick my wounds by myself.

As I was walking away, somebody grabbed me by the back of my pants and said, you know, "It wasn't all your fault.

It takes three of us to make a rhythm section."

Which was my first jazz lesson.

My first music lesson.

When I looked up, that was Shirley Horn.

I didn't realize that she had been playing the piano.

Narrator: Shirley Horn was not yet famous.

Billy Hart went on to perform and record with her for decades until she died in 2005.

Horn: [ Singing ] I'm getting hungry.

Peel me a grape.

Narrator: Billy was also the drummer on Herbie Hancock's 1971 "Mwandishi" album.

The tune "Sleeping Giant" starts with a famous drum solo.

[ Drum solo plays ] [ Drum solo plays ] Hart: Herbie Hancock is this genius that, uh, debuted with the Chicago Symphony when he was 11 years old, and he ended up somehow meeting Miles Davis and -- and performing with Miles, and he became a star.

And somehow he ended up hiring me.

It was the Herbie Hancock Sextet.

And we had met a guy that taught us some Swahili greetings.

So -- And we ended up having Swahili names.

If you look on a lot of records that I'm on, you'll see this name instead of Billy Hart.

It'll be Jabali.

And Herbie had a name, too.

And his name was Mwandishi.

[ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: In his early 80s now, Billy Hart shows little sign of slowing down.

He tours with his own band with Ethan Iverson on piano.

He teaches at Oberlin College, the New England Conservatory of Music, and other universities.

And he plays with his longtime buddies in The Cookers.

Hart: I've been knowing Eddie Henderson since we were high school.

Cecil McBee is older than I am.

Henderson: But everybody in this particular group are around the same age group, late 70s, early 80s.

And we all come from that particular generation.

[ Jazz music plays ] Harper: He's connected to the drums.

Once he's connected and we start playing, then something's going to happen.

Magic.

The magic happens.

Yeah.

[ Jazz music plays ] Henderson: He is a modest person.

And but in terms of his musical prowess, it's grandiose.

[ Drum solo plays ] [ Jazz music plays ] Narrator: "State of the Arts" met another NEA Jazz Master in 2020, Dorthaan Kirk.

Dorthaan doesn't play herself, but she's one of the greatest promoters of jazz and supporters of new talent.

[ Jazz music plays ] Ottenhoff: Over the years, she probably dealt with every jazz luminary who performed in the '70s and the '80s and the '90s.

It's a who's who of the -- the music world.

Narrator: In 2020, Dorthaan Kirk, often described as Newark's First Lady of Jazz, received one of America's highest honors, the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Advocacy.

Anderson: I always say it's not who's number you have, It's who will pick up the phone when you call.

and everybody will pick up the phone for Dorthaan Kirk.

Kirk: Wonderful.

But my favorite one... Narrator: Dorthaan married the legendary jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1971.

She spent eight years with him, often touring on the road before he died at the age of 42.

Kirk: He was unique because he played three instruments simultaneously in harmony.

[ Saxophones play ] And that was pretty much unheard of, but he always said it was a gift from God because he dreamed about those instruments, and he went out to an antique store and actually found them.

Anderson: It was a love story of a great partnership.

Narrator: When Rahsaan died, Dorthaan was still in her 30s, with three children and without a career.

Bob Ottenhoff hired her to help start Newark's WBGO jazz radio station, now considered one of the world's best.

Ottenhoff: Dorthaan was our ambassador to the music world, so she could call a musician and say, "Hey, there's this brand new station.

You haven't heard of them before, but would you come over and do an interview?"

Chestnut: She's one that truly looks out for you.

Any place you play on the scene, you know.

"Hey, Baby.

How you doing?"

You know.

Dorthaan: I knew all the musicians, I knew all the record company people.

In my head, I had no idea -- What does all this have to do with radio?

But later I learned.

Williams: I think, that WBGO would not have existed, uh, certainly in the way that it exists exist today, had it not been for Dorthaan's persistence and passion and energy for WBGO.

She was a catalyst.

Anderson: WBGO 883 FM.

Wbgo.org.

And on your mobile device.

I'm Sheila Anderson.

This is weekend jazz after hours, and I'm -- we're about to hear "Dorthaan's Walk" from Rahsaan Roland Kirk's recording "A Standing Light."

And Dorthaan Kirk is one of the founders of WBGO and who we call -- fondly call Mother Kirk.

So take a listen to "Dorthaan's Walk."

[ Music plays ] Kirk: Rahsaan died before his last album was released, and on that album he recorded the tune he wrote for me, "Dorthaan's Walk."

And so his real creative producer, Joel Dorn, he called me up one day and said he wanted to record my footsteps.

And if you have a really, really good stereo system, you can hear them quietly at the very end of that composition.

It's kind of eerie for me.

[ Footsteps ] [ Bass trebles ] Narrator: Dorthaan has organized monthly jazz concerts at her church, Bethany Baptist, for the past 20 years.

The great bassist Buster Williams recently played there.

Buster performed on Rahsaan Roland Kirk's 1976 album "The Return of the 5,000 Lb Man."

But this was his first appearance at Bethany.

[ Jazz music plays ] Kirk: He performed with Dakota Staton, Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughn, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and a multitude of others.

Please welcome Buster Williams.

Williams: She called me on the telephone and asked me, "Could we do this?"

And without hesitation I said, "Of course," because of who she is, you know, and because it's about time.

It's been going on for 20 years, and I'm just now getting here.

You know, I'll have some words with her about that.

[ Laughs ] [ Jazz music plays [ Narrator: NJPAC's John Schriber enlisted Dorthaan to produce Jazz Brunch concerts at the Performing Arts Center's James Moody Festival.

She's done it for the past 10 years.

Kirk: He is one of the nicest people I've ever met.

He was one of the first people to perform at this brunch in 2012.

So please welcome Cyrus Chestnut.

[ Applause ] Schreiber: I've known Dorthaan for 45 years.

She is always looking for ways to advance the music, because she believes and understands that it is a music of joy and a music of cooperation and great fun.

[ Jazz music plays ] Joy: [ Singing ] You stepped out of a dream.

You are too wonderful to be... Narrator: A reverence for the past, wrapped up with a love of the music that could be a description of Samara Joy, one of the newest voices in jazz.

We met up with her in 2022, not long before she won her first two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Joy: [ Singing ] Lord, dear Lord above.

God Almighty.

God of love.

Please.

Look down and see my people through.

Kirk: She has something in her.

And I will just call it soul.

Something that you feel.

And it just hits you because, you know, music is about a feeling anyhow when you get down to it.

And I can't imagine anybody coming to see her and not feeling her spirit.

Joy: [ Singing ] Beside.

Beside.

Beside.

Beside a garden wall.

When stars are bright.

You are in my arms.

Jordan: Samara Joy, to me, when I hear her, I hear an echo of Sara.

I hear Billie whispering.

And it just makes sense to bring her here during the lockdown of the pandemic.

And I'm just sitting and I'm listening to her voice, and I said to myself, "The minute we get out of this mess, I want to be in a space where I see this young lady perform."

Joy: [ Singing ] In my heart, it will remain.

[ Talking ] Being here at the Apollo is kind of a surreal experience, considering all the history of singers and musicians who have passed through here since, you know, Sarah Vaughan won amateur night and Ella Fitzgerald did the same.

It's amazing to be here performing for the first time.

[ Cheers and applause ] Narrator: Samara didn't grow up listening to jazz, but a YouTube recording of the great Sarah Vaughan changed her life.

Joy: I was supposed to be doing homework, but I was looking up YouTube videos of certain versions of songs to learn for class.

And her "Lover Man," is a standard, came up, she was live in Amsterdam.

Vaughan: [ Signing ] ...got a moon above me.

But no one to love me.

Lover man, oh, where can you be?

Joy: When the camera was on her -- nothing else, just her, no zoom in, no anything.

Just her standing there just singing, you know, being gorgeous.

And, um, it completely, uh, captured me.

Walker: The thing that I think brings people into Samara Joy's world is that she has this uncanny ability at a very early age to embrace stories and songs that some of us have known for years.

Joy: [ Singing ] That we once knew.

Each tiny star is but a prayer.

Narrator: In 2019, Samara competed in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition at NJPAC.

She was still in college.

She won, starting a career that has since taken off.

Samara's first album was described by Downbeat magazine as self-possessed and deeply emotive.

She's appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, The Apollo, and The Blue Note.

Her second album is being released by Verve, one of the greatest jazz labels.

And she's played all over Europe.

Joy: Hello, my name is Samara Joy and I'm here in Perugia, Italy for the Umbria Jazz Festival 2022.

My very first residency.

So we've been here performing every single day.

[ Singing ] Last night your lips were... Narrator: Jazz is all about the music.

No matter where you are.

A festival in Italy or an evening church service in Newark.

Especially if it's the Bethany Jazz Vespers, run by the legendary Dorthaan Kirk, named a 2020 NEA Jazz Master for Advocacy of the Music.

Kirk: So, please welcome Samara Joy.

[ Cheers and applause ] Joy: It's one of those things, it's like, if Dorthaan calls, you know, I got to go.

Narrator: That night, Samara played with bassist Neil Miner and guitarist Leonid Mozorov, a friend and former classmate.

Mozorov: It was like a couple months after, you know, I moved to America and I'm here in college and we're going on a jam session together, And I cannot believe what I'm hearing because it just gives me goosebumps, makes me feel something, makes tears in my eyes.

It's just -- It happens automatically, basically.

It's like your human respond to beautiful music.

Joy: [ Singing ] Nostalgia hit me as I recalled the day I knew that I loved you.

You passed me by on a starry night.

How could I forget?

You were stunning.

[ Talking ] There's a song in solo written and performed by a bebop trumpeter by the name of Fats Navarro, and I wrote the lyrics to -- I believe this is the first time lyrics have been written to this song -- it's called "Nostalgia."

Narrator: Samara is drawn to songs that tell a story, and the lyrics she wrote for Fats Navarro's "Nostalgia" tell one.

Joy: Because he died when he was 26 years old, it's sad to imagine what music would be or what the trumpet would be, you know, if he had lived.

But he was only 26 years old when he passed away, so I wanted to try and write lyrics from his perspective, as if he was talking to his significant other, celebrating an anniversary.

He didn't get to live that long, so I tried to write lyrics as if he did.

[ Singing ] Nostalgia hit me as I recall the day I knew that I loved you.

And now the feelings are just as strong as when I first laid eyes on you.

A vision of perfection.

Heaven's very essence.

I believe you're all I'll ever need.

Long as I live I'll love you for all eternity.

And I'm so glad you chose me.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Talking ] Thank you very much.

"Nostalgia."

Narrator: That's it for this special all jazz edition of "State of the Arts".

See more of our stories about jazz artists on our website StateoftheArtsNJ.com.

Thanks for watching.

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