Dr. Taylor's inquisitive nature and obvious joy in collaborating with artists for the first time is one of the abiding pleasures of Billy Taylor's Jazz At The Kennedy Center. Conversely the warmth and sense of shared experiences, common friends and colleagues is always a highlight when Dr. Taylor encounters one of his peers. Such is the case on this edition of the show as he welcomes one of jazz's resident good-humored men, the universally admired trumpeter Clark Terry. The comfort of commonality of musical development is part of the charm of this show as here are two jazz giants who came along at approximately the same time and have shared in many of the same musical elements. The two were of the earliest jazzmen to have significant television show profiles, Dr. Taylor as leader of the David Frost Show band, and Terry on the early Tonight Show band.

One reason Terry became a popular member of the Tonight Show band was his tongue-in-cheek rendering of his tune "Mumbles." As he explains to an audience member query, "Mumbles" was his approximation of the often slurred vocal pronouncements of blues musicians he heard as a young fellow growing up in St. Louis. He later sang "Mumbles" as a goof on an Oscar Peterson recording session and the leader laughed so hard he made room on the record for Terry's funny vocalese. Laughter rolls in gales as Terry regales the audience with the story of how he came to acquire his first trumpet. It seems the neighbors were so appalled at the youngster's homemade instrument bleatings that they took up a collection to buy him a real instrument. Years later he took up his second instrument, the flugelhorn, and first played it on a 1957 Billy Taylor recording session!

In addition to the hilarious "Mumbles," Terry also displays his vocal prowess on the latter portion of "Squeeze Me." The musical program also includes Terry's "Free & Oozy," sax giant Lester Young's "Lester Leaps In," the standard "I Can't Get Started," and Charlie Parker's classic "Donna Lee." Performing Duke Ellington's "Squeeze Me" is a natural for Terry as he had the unique privilege of being a valued and significant member of both the Duke Ellington and the Count Basie bands, on the road and in the recording studio.

Asked by an audience member how Terry and Dr. Taylor keep current in their respective musical outlooks, Dr. Taylor uses Louis Armstrong's habit of playing along with current trends -- though playing decidedly in his own style -- as an example many musicians follow. Terry talks about moving forward, never really being satisfied or falling into a groove with one's achievements on one's instrument. As he tells the audience, "The only difference between being in a groove and being in a grave are the dimensions." An audience member asks about jazz artists adaptations of the waltz form, citing a couple of jazz standards that are in waltz time, like Rodgers and Hart's "Lover." Dr. Taylor cites the great number of jazz waltzes, then he and Terry illustrate jazz variations on the waltz form through an impromptu version of "Lover."