The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) and WBGO’s Kids Jazz Concert Series present tenor saxophonist, composer, vocalist, bandleader and educator Calvin Johnson leading an entertaining, engaging and informative, family-friendly program. The free, not “for kids only” concert is entitled Who is Louis Armstrong? and is also a program of New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s (NJPAC) annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival at The Newark Museum of Art, 49 Washington Street, on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 1:00 pm.

A superb saxophonist and scientist of sound, Calvin Johnson swingingly tells the story of his hometown hero and musical father, Louis Armstrong, introducing young people to the wonderful world of jazz. His group, Native Son, named after Richard Wright’s groundbreaking novel,  consists of trombonist/vocalist Jeffery Miller, trumpeter Antoine Drye, drummer Errold Lanier, bassist Nori Naraoka; and pianist Andrew McGowan.

WBGO’s Shelia Anderson, host of Weekend Jazz Overnight and co-host of NightByrds, a new evening program with Awilda Rivera, will serve as MC for the Kids Concert.

“Like Pops, Calvin Johnson is a proud product of The Crescent City. Through his musical genius, he can convey Armstrong’s down home warmth and humanity to the young receptive minds, who will hopefully go home with a greater appreciation of jazz as well as of Louis Armstrong,” said Jackie Harris, LAEF Executive Director.

“To see and hear these young people experience jazz and one of the most important figures in this genre, is what this series is all about,” And to present this concert with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, well, it doesn’t get any better than that,” added Kids concert producer, WBGO co-founder and NEA Jazz Master, Dorthaan Kirk.

Born on November 21, 1985, Johnson comes from a musical family that played gospel, funk, classical and jazz for three generations. His sister played piano, and his paternal grandfather, George Augustus “Son” Johnson was an educator as well as a saxophonist, pianist, arranger and composer who led a WPA band during The Great Depression. Johnson first started playing the saxophone at the age of seven and was playing with professional musicians five years later.

Johnson was a student of the late saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s School of Music and the Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp. He is an alumnus of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), Dillard University and the University of New Orleans, where he earned a B.S. in Business. He has performed with Trombone Shorty, Irvin Mayfield, Christian Scott, Jon Batiste, Harry Connick, Jr., The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Aaron Neville.  He recorded his debut recording Jewel’s Lullaby in 2012, followed by his eponymously titled 2013 release, Native Son. Johnson led a funk band, Chapter: SOUL in 2015. He’s appeared in the HBO series Treme and the motion picture, Bolden. Johnson currently serves as a faculty member of the Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, sits on the Board of Directors of MaCCNO (Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans) and is producing his first documentary; a film about New Orleans music entitled TRAD.

Over the years, WBGO and LAEF have presented Kids concerts at Flushing Town Hall (New York), Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture at Hostos Community College/CUNYBronx (New York), Symphony Hall (Newark, NJ), and the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts | Middle and High School (East Orange, NJ).

Admission is free. Contact: https://newarkmuseumart.org

ABOUT LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Hailed as one the most influential and popular musicians in modern music, trumpeter/vocalist Louis Armstrong (1901-71) rose out of poverty in New Orleans, and became, in the words of music and cultural critic Albert Murray, “the Prometheus of jazz,” as the genre’s first major instrumental soloist and singer, who invented the art of scat-singing.

ABOUT WBGO CHILDREN’S CONCERT SERIES/NEWARK PUBLIC RADIO

The WBGO Children’s Concert Series brings world-renowned jazz musicians to concert halls and venues throughout New York and New Jersey. These free concerts give young listeners the chance to discover the enjoyment of jazz, improvisation and musical collaboration. WBGO-FM/Newark Public Radio is a non-profit, publicly funded arts and cultural institution, dedicated to the curation, presentation, and preservation of music created out of the African American experience. The station is committed to providing its world-wide jazz community with independently produced music programming and journalism for the purpose of public enrichment, entertainment, and insight. https://www.wbgo.org

ABOUT THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG EDUCATION FOUNDATION (LAEF)

The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) was founded and funded by Louis and Lucille Armstrong in 1969 to give back to the world “some of the goodness he received.” The mission of the organization is to preserve and promote the cultural legacy of Louis Armstrong by fostering programs, lectures, and other educational events to assist those interested, gifted and talented in the field of music, primarily jazz. Today the Foundation is a major source of funding for programs to expose and educate adults and children in the history of American jazz and has provided solid financial support to institutions across the nation. In October 2021 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of LAEF, Verve Records, in conjunction with LAEF, released A Gift to Pops, a CD by The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All-Stars with special guests Wynton Marsalis and Common. https://louisarmstrongfoundation.org

ABOUT THE TD JAMES MOODY FESTIVAL and NJPAC

Named for Newark’s great saxophonist/flutist James Moody, The TD James Moody Jazz Festival presents dozens of free and ticketed events, including Dorthaan’s Place, Jazz Vespers and the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. NJPAC is a nonprofit arts organization that is the cultural institution for the city of Newark that presents audiences with world-class performances, and nurtures students through a comprehensive arts education, and engages the community with free cultural events across the city. https://www.njpac.org/  |
https://www.njpac.org/series/james-moody-jazz-festival/

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