>> So just imagine you've got a saxophone player here, a guitar player over there, a band meeting over there, a dancer doing some things over here.

And now you've got these divas giving you Martha Wash-type runs.

♪ Everybody dance now ♪ Yeah, we did that.

[ Laughs ] We did that.

♪♪ >> Welcome to "DMV: The BEAT."

Grandfather's legacy, mother's greatest gift, newest saxophonist making a name for himself.

This is the story of TC on Sax.

>> Let me start this way about telling you about my son, TC.

Let me say that, as a teenager... ...at 16, I found myself pregnant.

At 17, I was a mother, and it happened to be with TC.

I can't say this without saying bringing my daddy, the late Reverend Thomas Clark, at his deathbed, I was pregnant with Thomas, my TC.

My daddy wanted a son really bad.

He only had girls.

He had six girls.

I'm his baby girl.

But on his death bed, I was pregnant.

And he knew that because I had asked him when I got pregnant, "Dad, I had got myself in trouble."

That's what we said back in the days.

"Can I come home?"

He said, "Yes."

Sent me a bus ticket, Trailways, to come home.

He said, "If you have a boy, he's going to be mine."

I said, "Okay, Daddy."

And at his deathbed, he made me promise him something.

He said, "Promise me that you will not have a whole lot of babies without a husband.

Because if you do," he said, it'll be hard for you and your mama."

I said, "Okay, I promise, Daddy."

My daddy went on home to be with the Lord, and to this day, I kept that promise.

I stopped at that one, that TC.

So Thomas really got his name in honor of my daddy because my daddy was Thomas Clark.

So I named him Thomas.

>> Here's a little bit about TC on Sax.

He grew up in the Washington, DC, area.

Started out, you know, as a typical young guy trying to figure out what to do.

Single mom raising me by herself in elementary school, different elementary school every year, moving around.

Because where mama went, I went.

>> Where I went, he went.

Where I ate, he ate.

If I had steak and lobster, he had steak and lobster because I was blessed to have good people in my life.

>> The first time I picked up a sax was at church, right?

So between picking up the sax and playing, you know, behind the mass choir, you know, you can hide your notes behind the mass choir because, you know, Black church has got all great voices.

So I just blended in to the ones that wasn't so great.

And eventually, I became great, just like the greatest voices in the church.

And that's where I learned my feel, my technique, my tone, and how to express at church.

And from there, like, again, my love for music just kept growing and growing and growing.

>> I've known TC for quite a while.

I met him as a younger fellow.

As he started in singing, and when he was playing the sax, I was the minister of music at a church in Southeast, and when I had need of someone to help me, he stepped right in.

He sang with the choir, he played the saxophone along with the band.

He was extraordinary on it.

>> My mom being a single mom, she had to figure out what to do with this kid that was growing up to be a man or a young man at that time.

So what I did was I entered into an audition for a play.

I'll never forget it.

I was like this goofy kid on stage in this play called "Grease."

I was Doody, right?

And my teacher at the time, Mr. Stringer, you know, said, "Hey, this guy's got some talent."

But at the same time, my mom was trying to figure out, why is he getting in so much trouble?

>> He started in church blowing the sax.

Didn't realize how talented he was, or is, you know, so just noticing him in church.

But growing up, he was just always making noise.

and how he got to Duke Ellington was he was starting to get into a little bit of trouble at Friendly High School.

And he came to me even then wanting to know if he could go to Duke Ellington.

>> Auditioned at Duke Ellington.

It was a funny story because I went there, and when you all go to a Duke Ellington audition, it's a weird situation because it's a whole day.

It's like a whole eight-hour day just for the audition.

You got to go in this line, get in that line, get all the lines.

So I got in all the lines, and it was time for me to go and pick the department at Ellington that I wanted to be in because they concentrate on all the realms of art, from painting to photography to music to theater and all these things.

Well, anyways, I had prepared this cool poem by Langston Hughes, right?

And I said, "I want to go and I want to be in the theater department at Duke Ellington."

By the time you get to the space where you're actually in front of the crew of teachers and counselors to allow you into your department that you're auditioning for, it's at the end of the day.

And I was at the end of the day, and this this lady was behind the piano.

She said, "Okay, have you prepared -- What have you prepared for me?"

And I said, I'm going to do "I, Too, Eat in the Kitchen" by Langston Hughes.

She said, "Thomas, you are in the music department."

I said, "Oh, I wanted to be in the theater department."

She said, "Well, you'd have to start over, and I'm afraid you're going to have to come back another day and start all over the process.

You have time to come another day?"

I didn't have time because I caught the bus.

I caught the 32 all the way up there.

Anyways, long story short, she said, "Well, do you know how to sing?"

I said, "I can carry a tune."

So she started playing "The Star-Spangled Banner," and by the time I got to "O!

say, can you see," she stopped.

"You're in."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Wow.

Look at me now, man.

It's 2023, and I'm on the corner of R and 35th Street, Northwest DC.

And guess what's behind me?

Fresh coat of paint on Duke Ellington.

I'm going to call it the White House.

Let's go see what's happening in here, man.

♪♪ Whoa.

I haven't been back in this building in 38 years.

And when I was here before, it was none of this global effect, none of this -- the white walls.

It was all broken down, kind of like put together.

And the students made it and gave it the spirit.

But now, man, look at what they have to work with.

The city has done really good, man.

They did really good.

Got Chappelle out there.

Because he went here, Chappelle went here before I did.

They're giving tribute, throwing homage to all the right people.

Somebody got to -- Somebody's got to give Duke Ellington, Washington, DC, DC public schools a hand, man, because this is working.

What I could have did with this, what I could have did with this.

Okay.

Vocal studio.

See, this is the kind of room I would go into, not as pretty, but I would have my vocal teacher, Kenny Bonds.

He would teach me.

It would be just me and my vocal teacher.

He would be at the piano telling me things to do and telling me how to play and sing.

Wow.

See, the pianos we had back in the day were more like this thing right here.

They kept some old-school stuff.

These were our pianos.

The Steinway & Son upright.

[ Laughs ] Wow.

Look at them now, man.

They got speaker systems.

Let me see if this thing is in tune.

Hold on.

[ Playing notes ] It is in tune.

Oh, shoot.

Oh.

Whoo.

This is a song I did for Moe.

♪♪ ♪ Have you ever had a friend?

♪ ♪ One you can talk to and would listen to the end ♪ ♪ Showed you love and shared your pain ♪ ♪ The daily lesson was it's not a game ♪ ♪ Stood strong with you in places ♪ ♪ Talked you off the shelf when you was crazy ♪ ♪ And one thing I know for sure ♪ ♪ I had a friend in Moe ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Bros for life ♪ ♪ That's how we said it ♪ ♪ Family first ♪ ♪ At the end of the day ♪ ♪ Things gon' tough ♪ ♪ Just pray when you can ♪ ♪ Then stand up strong ♪ ♪ And stick to the plan ♪ ♪ Stood strong with you in places ♪ ♪ Talked you off the shelf when you was crazy ♪ ♪ One thing I know for sure ♪ ♪ I had a friend in Moe ♪ ♪ Ha ha!

♪ ♪ I had a friend in Moe for sho' ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Come on, let's go.

♪♪ Whoo!

Ha ha!

Let's go.

It's time, y'all.

Here we in the pocket, y'all.

What?

Put 'em on that pocket, y'all.

Put 'em all in the pocket for me one time.

Ha!

♪♪ Run it down.

Run it down.

Run it down.

♪♪ [ Rapping ] ♪ Wrote this song about cameraman Moe ♪ ♪ He rode around the city and he shot big shows ♪ ♪ You might have seen him on the set of HBO ♪ ♪ Or runnin' a touchdown with Ochocinco ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ All right.

Ha ha!

My man, Moe.

Ha ha!

♪♪ Here I am in the cafeteria, and just like they do in any good music school, the cafeteria has to have... [ Playing notes ] ...a piano, because this is where it all came down.

The pianist would come down, the horn players would come out, the theater department would be in their little section, the dance would be in their section, and we'd all come together as friends and take beautiful, make beautiful moments, man.

We would create the artists and the acts that you have seen over the last 30 years.

But I was able to create strong bonds with a lot of really talented folk in this space right here.

The building is new, but the spaces are the same.

The third floor is still the music department.

The second floor is still theater.

And the cafeteria is still the cafeteria.

[ Chuckling ] Look at the art.

Look at what they did.

This is all -- Some of this is so new.

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it is an amazing spot.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ I love it, how it flowing with this love ♪ ♪ Can't resist your touch ♪ ♪ Kissing's not enough ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪ I love it, how it flowing with this love ♪ ♪ Can't resist your touch ♪ ♪ Kissing's not enough ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> He graduated from Duke Ellington, and he went to Virginia State.

He went one semester, but he was active in Virginia State and talent shows.

He would send me pictures of him singing.

He has a nice voice, as well.

So, he was just born to be TC on Sax.

He was just born, he was just musically inclined naturally.

So he went to Virginia State for one semester.

He called me, he said, "Mom, I don't want to go to college."

I said, "All right."

I said, "You can come home if that's what you want to do."

I said, "But let me tell you this.

If you come home, whatever you do, if you be a trash collector," I said, "I want you to be the best trash collector you could be."

He said, "Okay."

So he came home.

He finished up his little one semester and came home.

And he's been proceeding ever since.

Got himself in a trade school, taking up the keyboard, learning to do this, just doing things that I just did not know.

And he just kind of started getting himself taught.

And lo and behold, I look up, I have me a fine musician on my hand.

>> Someone asked me a really interesting question one day, like, what is it that you like most about music and playing music and playing the saxophone?

The best thing I can say is, you know, throughout my life, I've traveled abroad.

And in that travel, I have been engaged with people who I don't understand their language and they don't speak the same tongue as I.

And the most beautiful part about being on stage or in front of someone when you're playing a saxophone -- or any instrument at this point, right?

-- when you're playing your instrument, rather you're singing or rather you're playing a trumpet, a flute, a violin, whatever you play, the most beautiful feeling in the world is, if you speak Chinese, and I'm playing a beautiful ballad, then you're going to be just as moved because, emotionally, we've engaged each other, right?

Because when I play for people, I often build off of their energy, right?

So, when I'm playing the melodies of life, that's exactly what it is.

You know, I'm playing the melodies of life, and sometimes I'll never play something the same way I don't think I can actually.

I'm always inflecting and bending and moving based on, again, all of my experience in life and all of the things that I can read in your eyes and your body language when I'm playing in front of you.

And you know, that energy transfers into what you're hearing.

So music is definitely a language of its own, but it's a unified language.

You know, everybody who understands, listens, and likes music has a favorite song.

And nine out of ten, that song that they like relates to them as a person.

So all I do is try to relate to people through the melodies that I play.

>> Each time that I hear him when he's playing the sax, whether it's at a funeral or at a church service or just in general, you know, I am amazed how he's grown from when he started until now.

That he is -- I mean, he himself, he gives such expression showing how much he loves what he's doing.

The sound itself, it seems to resonate to the point that people pay attention to it because sometimes he's used as if we don't have a soloist and just the band, then he's being used to do that, to do the lead part.

I see his talent going to the point where he's actually a recording artist, where his -- well, to be up in the level with the well-known artists out there.

There's no stopping him.

>> Tears come to my eyes when I see him perform.

When I -- when I see him perform, so proud.

A mother so proud.

When I see what I almost -- Because what I didn't tell you is that I almost had an abortion.

That's what I hadn't told you.

So when I see him perform, I think, "Look at what I would have aborted."

If I had went through with that.

I literally went as far as lying on the table to be examined for an abortion.

And I got up and sat up on that table and I said, "No.

I can't do that."

>> Can I explain to you the measure of impact that you've had on my life?

>> Yes, please.

>> Without you making the sacrifices to make sure that I was of sound mind and my tummy was fed -- I still been eating, right?

>> That's good.

>> I dress nice.

You made sure that I was in position to always take advantage of the opportunities.

You put people in my life.

You didn't try to do it all yourself.

You put a lot of good people in my life.

And when you cried, I cried.

When I laughed, you laughed.

When we went, we was out and we did it together.

And I thank you for being the greatest mother in this entire whole world on the planet.

>> Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

It's truly a joy, an honor.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> It's an honor to be your mother.

I'm so proud.

It's just an honor to be your mom.

I'm just tickled pink to be your mother.

>> Don't make me cry, now.

Let's talk.

I don't like doing this.

>> I'm so tickled to be your mom.

I really am.

I'm so grateful that you came through my birth canal.

>> Okay.

Yep.

That happened.

>> In 1966.

>> Hello.

Won't you do it?

>> Won't you do it?

[ Laughter ] >> ♪ I love it, how it flowing with this love ♪ ♪ Can't resist your touch ♪ ♪ Kissing's not enough ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪ I love it, how it flowing with this love ♪ ♪ Can't resist your touch ♪ ♪ Kissing's not enough ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪ I need love ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> And "The BEAT" goes on.

Thank you for watching.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> This program was produced by WHUT and made possible by contributions from viewers like you.

For more information on this program or any other program, please visit our web site at whut.org.

Thank you.