Honoring a World Language
Photograph by Joseph Fanvu.
Warren DeSouza & Kim Nelson
Members since 2016
SFJAZZ Members since 2016, Warren DeSouza and Kim Nelson stepped up to Leaders Circle in 2018.
“It gives me a lot of joy to feel part of something that’s keeping an art form I admire and respect going,” says Warren. “And this year, I admit, I did really enjoy calling the concierge and telling him every show I wanted tickets for. That was a nice perk!” (laughs).
Warren’s tastes are more traditional straight bebop, while Kim’s tastes run wider to the far perimeters of jazz. “Jazz is thriving,” Kim says. “It’s embedded itself in so much music that we don’t always recognize it. One of the things I appreciate as a nontraditional jazz fan is that SFJAZZ presents such varied genres of jazz – everything from Lettuce to Brad Mehldau to Mark de Clive-Lowe and Lila Downs, too!”
Warren and Kim met while serving as officers on the board of the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants – a nonprofit whose mission is to help usher young minority students into professional accounting and finance careers.
They discovered that they had both grown up in Hayward and without ever meeting one another – had attended rival high schools.
Warren was born into a musical family, but he and his three siblings were completely passed over when it came to the musical gene – “much to my mother’s chagrin,” he says. But Warren was deeply influenced by his parents’ jazz albums and their taste in music.
On the other side of Hayward, Kim’s was a music-filled household too. She grew up with Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington records and as a teen developed a love of jazz-R&B fusion acts like The Crusaders.
Warren and Kim, along with a talent for ledgers and financial statements, both share a dedication to their community and a love for live music, which has become an important part of their lives together.
They enjoy introducing friends to the world of jazz.
These days, Warren and Kim count 4-8 couples that regularly attend shows and festivals with them. “At first, with some of our friends there was an obstacle to overcome,” says Kim. “But once they got there, they’d say, ‘Oh, I do like jazz.” Or, ‘This is jazz?’
“They’re realizing that it might be cool to go see Lisa Fisher or Sergio Mendes or the Robert Glasper Experiment.”
A few of the couples have even become SFJAZZ Members themselves.
True ambassadors, Warren and Kim have a connection to the music that goes beyond the simple, pure enjoyment of it.
As an African-American woman, a Bay Area native by the grace of the Great Migration … it makes me feel good to represent at the concerts – to stand up and to be counted.
Kim Nelson
For Warren, his support of the Leaders Circle is connected to a sense of awe and history.
“I’m a bit of a history buff. If I wasn’t in finance, I probably would have been a professor of history – and history teaches us a lot of things. Jazz is the only art form that was invented in America. More important, it’s an African-American art form, and we need to do more to respect it and pay homage to it.”
He points out that other cultures have taken this American art form and expanded its base and audience. He mentions Cuban jazz as an example and adds, “I have some Portuguese roots, so when Mariza comes and plays, that speaks to my soul – those things all connect. Jazz is a true world language.”
“It is a point of pride,” adds Kim.
Their support is deeply connected to a sense of obligation and responsibility.
“Over time, I realized it was my way of giving back to something I truly believed in,” says Warren. “And Kim and I really like the outreach [the music programs in the San Francisco and Oakland public schools] that SFJAZZ is doing. It speaks to me – getting young people involved and aware of the historical impact and the beauty of jazz to keep it going.
“Jazz teaches so much more than just music – it teaches values and discipline, and this country owes jazz a great debt. We need to protect it and respect it. That’s why we’re doing our part.”
This article is part the SFJAZZ Leaders Circle stories. The Leaders Circle is SFJAZZ’s premier philanthropic group of individuals who believe in the transformative power of the arts.