As a first-generation Filipina American whose mother lived through the Japanese occupation in WWII, I’ve seen how history shapes the need for voice and expression. I’ve worked on the front lines of civil rights—first as a plaintiff’s trial attorney and later as an Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Justice in the Trial Division. Through both paths, I’ve learned how vital it is to listen to different histories—and this music is one place where those histories meet.

It’s through performances like this that we bring those histories into conversation, connecting my own story, the civil rights journey, and the tradition of jazz.

This performance is enriched by the lineage of the artists on stage. Christopher Brown — who leads his own acclaimed quartet and brings his Black American heritage to this music — joins my band for this performance. His playing reflects the reliance and depth of the heart of jazz tradition.

Ed Bennett, an acoustic bassist whose career includes collaborations with legends such as Carmen McRae and Nancy King, brings his rich musical legacy and Jewish American lineage into this shared musical conversation.

Greg Goebel’s arrangements reimagine these classic songs for today. Drawing from his Germanic American background, his work with Gino Vannelli and his own artistic voice, he transforms tradition into something vital and immediate.

This performance doesn’t equate these histories but places them in conversation. Through the Great American Songbook, Autumn Nocturne explores how music shapes meaning, community, and survival.

Autumn Nocturne asks what becomes possible when we listen closely — to one another, to tradition, and listen to the spaces between us. Like autumn itself, these songs hold both release and renewal.

This is not background music.
This is a room for listening.