Sammy Louis Nestico

The always-original and distinctive tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson had a renaissance late in his career, achieving the fame that had eluded him for decades. One of his best-received recordings was a CD filled with Billy Strayhorn songs. This performance, a duet with pianist Herbie Hancock, is from a special concert that celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival in a tent on the lawn of the White House on June 15, 1993; President Bill Clinton was among those enjoying the show.

Once upon a time, in the spring of 1911, a 14-year-old boy embarked on the ship Madonna from Naples, Italy. Per the instructions of his mother Francesca, his destination was Ellis Island, America. Luigi was never to see his siblings, his parents nor his homeland again. The combination of desperation and dreams, plus the promise that America held for peasant farmers in Calabria, was reason enough to make the hopeful journey.