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Jesus and Jazz WHM2025 Celebration feat Dorthaan Kirk and Yayoi Ikawa
March 30, 2025 @ 11:30 am – 1:30 pm EDT
Jesus and Jazz WHM2025 Celebration feat Dorthaan Kirk and Yayoi Ikawa
Mt. Zion AME Church Jesus and Jazz unique jazz inspirational service at 11:30 AM every 4th Sunday of the month. People of all faith traditions (or no faith tradition) are welcome. Free to attend!
Get ready for a very special WHM2025 Jesus and Jazz. Our spiritual blessings will come from Rev Eyesha Marable. Our Jazz Blessings will come from the prolific NEA Jazz Master Dorthaan Kirk. The Jazz will be delivered by the Dynamic Pianist Yayoi Ikawa with Bassist Singer Caylen Bryant and Drummer Jinmi Kimm with songs by Vocalist Lynette Sheard.
Lets Celebrate together.
Read on to learn more about our special guests
Dorthaan Kirk
Originally from Texas, she was married to jazz legend Rashaan Roland Kirk. Dorthaan is one of the first people hired by Newark’s jazz station WBGO and became the face of and a fierce advocate for the station. She served as Director of Community Relations and Special Events, among other roles over the years. Dorthaan has promoted, curated and produced jazz events throughout the region. For 25 years she is also co-chair of Jazz Vespers at Bethany Baptist Church and consultant producer for Dothaan’s Place jazz series at NJPAC. She is known as “Newark’s First Lady of Jazz”..In 2003 she received a Discretionary Award from the JJA for her “humanitarian contributions” to Jazz. In 2013, she received the Humanitarian Award from the American Conference on Diversity, Essex County Chapter. In 2020, She was identified with the highest honor in the land for Jazz, the National Endowment for the Arts which honored her with a Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy.. We are honored to welcome our own national NEA Jazz Master Dorthaan Kirk.
Pianist: Yayoi Ikawa
Yayoi Ikawa is a talented jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader originally from Tokyo, Japan. She has made a name for herself in the global music scene, particularly in New York City, where she has embraced diverse musical styles such as jazz, gospel, R&B, soul, classical, and world music. Yayoi is known for her innovative compositions and her ability to connect with audiences through her music. She has performed at international jazz festivals, collaborated with musicians from around the world, and led projects like “The Bridge Project,” which fosters musical dialogue between Tokyo and New York. Yayoi is also a music director at a church in New Jersey and teaches jazz piano at City College of New York and Brooklyn College. Her work reflects her mission to use music as a tool for compassion and connection.
Bass: Caylen Bryant
As a child, Caylen Bryant began her musical journey as a songbird and cellist. Many years later, she picked up the bass while at school at Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she earned her degrees in Africana Studies and Jazz Bass Performance. She studied with Peter Dominguez and Gerald Cannon, and now plays a wide variety of music on both the upright bass and electric bass. Bryant is passionate about teaching, and directs a community music program for youth in Brooklyn, NY. The program was founded by New York Times best selling author and musician, James McBride. She has worked extensively with Jazz House Kids and the New Jersey Youth Symphony Orchestra, and teaches private lessons as well. She is the current bassist for Blue Note Record Artist, Kandace Springs, and toured the West Coast with her in February of 2020. In her most recent studio recording, Bryant was the bassist for the 2020 Grammy award-winning album “All the Ladies” by Joanie Leeds
Drums: Jinmi Kim
Jinmi started learning classical piano at 7 years old in Korea and majored in drums in college in Korea. She also furthered her studies where she went to William Paterson University in the United States and majored in Jazz Composition & Arranging where she attained her Master of Music in Jazz Arranging. Drummer and composer Jinmi Kim has performed around the world, from New York to Korea. Now Jinmi is a New York, New Jersey based drummer who has played at numerous clubs in Korea such as Club Evans, Jass and All that jazz in Korea. In the New Jersey area she has performed in Glen Pointe, Hat City, etc and in New York at the Red Room, Smoke, Silvana and and is also participating in the BMI jazz workshop. Jinmi is a student of Jim McNeely, Pete McGuinness and has successfully performed with heavy hitter musicians such as Vincent Herring, Roni Ben-Hur and others on the local scene.
Lynette Sheard is a Community Education Coordinator at the Mental Health Association in New Jersey and the Director of the national award-winning NJ Mental Health Players, an improvisational community mental health education program. The program provides audiences with a dynamic way to receive basic education about mental illness, addiction, and other relevant challenges impacting emotional wellness. The mission of this art and advocacy program is to increase education and awareness, decrease stigma and break the silence often associated with mental health. She is uniquely qualified, as she combines her skills as a professional performer with her passion for advocacy. She is a versatile vocalist, actor, producer, director, and vocal coach. In 2017 she was inducted into the Encyclopedia of Newark Jazz. Her live performances have been reviewed in numerous publications including, The New York Times, Broadway World, and The Star-Ledger which proclaimed that “Her voice reaches deep into one’s soul and finds a soft spot”. Theater credits include principal roles in Dream Girls, Smokey Joe’s Café, Ragtime, Swing, Aida, For Colored Girls, A Raisin in the Sun, and Avenue Q of which Broadway World declared that “she is fabulous with a voice that shakes the rafters.”
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