Oral History Project:
Jazz at Westminster Presbyterian Church
The Lived Experiences of DC's Musicians

Bobby Felder is a jazz trombonist, pianist, conductor and composer.  His band regularly performs at Jazz Night at Westminster Presbyterian Church.  For several years, Felder’s eight piece jazz band has peformed the Friday after Thanksgiving at Jazz at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Reverend Brian Hamilton is co-pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, which hosts the weekly Friday “Jazz Night in DC ” concerts. He co-organizes the series with singer Dick Smith.

Corcoran Holt is a bassist that grew up in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C.,learning jazz and African music. As a teenager and young adult, he attended many concerts atthe Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Jazz Night in DC” series before hestarted performingat the church in his 20s.

Leonard “Lenny” Robinson is a jazz drummer and a music educator in Washington, D.C. He is a veteran and frequent performer at the Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Jazz Night in D.C.” series, having performed at over 200 times
by estimation 

Herbert Scott is a saxophonist that grew up in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C.,and came up through the DC public schools’ music education programs and the Duke EllingtonSchool of the Arts. Since returning to D.C. following his undergraduatestudies at MichiganState, Scott has become a major player on the D.C. jazz scene, including founding the CapitolHill Jazz Foundation. He started seeing shows at the Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Friday“Jazz Night in DC” series as a teenager and hassince played the church multiple times as eithera sideman or as a headliner there.

Richard “Dick” Smith is a singer and activist for the jazz community in Washington, D.C. He co-founded the “Jazz Night” series at Westminster Presbyterian Church with Reverend Brian Hamilton and he curates the performers.