A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It is International Jazz Day, with events happening in more than 190 countries around the world. The celebration is organized by the United Nations, and it was founded by a goodwill ambassador who happens to be a living jazz legend. Here to tell us all about it is Nate Chinen from member station WRTI. Nate, so, I guess, happy International Jazz Day. How are you celebrating?
NATE CHINEN, BYLINE: Thank you. As a matter of fact, I'm headed to the airport to fly out to Chicago, which is this year's global host city. So tonight, there's going to be an all-star concert with jazz artists from a whole bunch of different nationalities and backgrounds, people like Melissa Aldana, who's a saxophonist originally from Chile...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CHINEN: ...And Jacob Collier from the U.K.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JACOB COLLIER: (Singing) Somewhere...
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: (Vocalizing).
COLLIER: (Singing) Beyond the sea.
CHINEN: And presiding over this whole affair is the founder of international jazz, A, Herbie Hancock.
(SOUNDBITE OF HERBIE HANCOCK'S "WATERMELON MAN")
CHINEN: He just turned 86. He's actually a son of Chicago. He was born and raised there.
HERBIE HANCOCK: We've had it at the White House before. We've had it in New Orleans at the very beginning. Now here we are on the 15th anniversary of International Jazz Day having it in my hometown.
MARTÍNEZ: That's awesome, Nate. So, I mean, Chicago has its own rich jazz history, too.
CHINEN: Oh, yeah. It's really one of the most important jazz cities historically, going way back to 1915, and jazz has continued to evolve and thrive there. There's just - there's so much happening. And Hancock's co-host is another son of Chicago, the singer Kurt Elling.
KURT ELLING: I really want Chicago to be able to shine to the world. The music is part of the warp and woof of our fabric here in this city. And I love my city, and I want to be able to broadcast a message of unity and literal harmony. That's what jazz always has inside of it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOIN' TO CHICAGO (LIVE AT GREEN MILL JAZZ CLUB, CHICAGO/1999)")
ELLING: (Singing) You keep your New York joys.
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah.
ELLING: (Singing) I'm going to Illinois just as fast as I can.
MARTÍNEZ: You know, Nate, he mentioned the word unity there, and I got to say, I mean, right now doesn't seem to be a great time for international relations and unity. The U.N., the United Nations, itself has come under some fire. How does Jazz Day fit into all that?
CHINEN: As Herbie Hancock reminded me, jazz came out of hardship and conflict.
HANCOCK: How would jazz have ever been developed if we didn't have slavery? It came out of that. So all the problems of the past can be used as fuel for positive things in the future. So there's no time to waste.
MARTÍNEZ: It really sounds like he really sees International Jazz Day as kind of a party with a purpose.
CHINEN: Yeah. That's it on the nose. I actually told Hancock half-jokingly that the tagline this year should be International Jazz Day - now more than ever. And maybe that sounds utopian, but the musicians really believe that, and so do many of us who love the music.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Nate Chinen of WRTI in Philadelphia. Nate, have a great International Jazz Day.
CHINEN: Thank you, A.
(SOUNDBITE OF HERBIE HANCOCK'S "WATERMELON MAN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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