Jazz Night in America x Youngbloods
A mini-series for WBGO’s flagship podcast Jazz Night in America that featured five up-and-coming Jazz geniuses who are revolutionizing the genre. A collaboration between WBGO, NPR Music, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
JNIA celebrates two-time 2023 Grammy-winner Samara Joy, an artist now in full bloom who was nurtured as a seedling by her tight-knit family and community in the Bronx. Car rides to school were filled with the sounds and stories of her parents' childhoods — musicians like Heat Wave, The Sylvers and Aretha Franklin narrated a countless number of them. Joy's parents recognized her gift at a young age, supporting a childhood dream of becoming an actress. Stepping into different characters pushed her outside of her comfort zone and challenged her creatively; it was an early lesson on how to embody another and how to add color and complexity to a story that may not be your own.
In the third episode of our Youngbloods miniseries, we're putting the spotlight on Sarah Hanahan, a young alto saxophonist who has always been sure of her connection to the instrument. "I remember playing it for the first time," she says. "I never like, squeaked and squawked on it. I always had a sound; I always had a tone. I was a kid, but I found it right away."
Immanuel Wilkins is taking cues from the Holy Spirit: The alto saxophonist and composer's foundations in Pentecostal and Baptist churches were an introduction to the concept of becoming a vessel, of creating in service of God. His earliest praise and worship services had a lot in common with jam sessions at The Clef Club, a Philadelphia-based music education program founded by Lovett Hines. That multi-generational exchange instilled the value of humility and craft.