100-year-old NYC jazz composer continues to live life to the fullest
NEW YORK (PIX11) — This Juneteenth, a New York jazz lyricist and composer is not just getting recognition for having lived through a century of the holiday, she’s also being celebrated as an example of how good choices in lifestyle and healthcare can lead to long, healthy lives for everyone, regardless of age.
Asta Hairston was born in 1924 and said in an interview that her approach to life has been simple for each day of her century of life.
“You survived yesterday,” she said, “and if you get through today, tomorrow will take care of itself.”
Hairston said that she looks forward to many tomorrows, and has been able to rack up a century of yesterdays by doing things in her life that everyone can and should do.
“If you’re blessed with good health, and you eat properly, and find something to focus on other than yourself,” she said in the interview at her Upper West Side apartment.
It’s the place from which Hairston has been an active part of the New York music and arts scene for nearly 60 years, and before that, she was a resident of Hamilton Heights, Harlem, where she was also active in generating and enjoying musical arts. She was a music program supervisor in New York City public schools for four decades and had been the companion and muse of renowned jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt.
For the last decade, she’s been a prolific lyricist and composer of jazz music, in collaboration with other music artists, including Nicki Richards, Gustavo Casenave, and Christian McBride.
With the help of her music partners, Hairston has written and composed dozens of songs in the last decade. She said that creative effort like that has been vital.
“You ought to be doing something, rather than sitting around.”
She’s able to get around her two-bedroom apartment on her own — no small feat for a centenarian, and she spends hours in her study.
“This is my everything room,” she said, describing the space that contains her music keyboard, shelves of books from the floor to the ceiling, and another important keyboard — the one for her computer. On it, she writes her lyrics, her correspondences, and other works.
Her most important interactions, though, are on a personal level.
She has a home health aide, Angela Sterling, who visits daily, and her best friend, Sevariah Hendrix, lives one floor below.
“You are my mentor,” Hendrix told Hairston during a visit to the centenarian’s studio.
Hendrix is the closest of many younger people in Hairston’s life — Hendrix is 75 years old.
“She said ‘You’re the celebrity,'” said Hendrix, in describing the pair’s first encounter, in their building. Hendrix is a longstanding stylist to major recording artists, including Donna Summer, on their concert tours. “And I said, ‘No, you’re the celebrity,'” Hendrix continued. “And we just clicked.”
Interactions with other people, like the relationship that Hairston and Hendrix have, are incredibly important, according to Hairston’s geriatrician, Dr. Christine Chang, of Mt. Sinai.
“Quite amazing,” is how Dr. Chang, an assistant professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, described Hairston.
Chang said that geriatricians follow what is called “The Five M’s” in carrying out care for elderly patients: medications, mind, mobility, multicomplexity, and what matters most.
She said that Hairston lives The Five M’s in an exemplary way. She needs few medications in part due to a healthy diet over time; she keeps her mind sharp by both creating and consuming thoughtful media; she’s devoted to exercise; she’s mindful of all of her needs; and her interactions with others are paramount.
“Strong friendships like this can really contribute to well-being,” Dr. Chang said in an interview.
On Juneteenth, Dr. Chang’s patient, whose grandmother was emancipated at the time of the original Juneteenth,158 years ago, had a word of advice for all.
“You live every minute of every day,” Asta Hairston said, “and give thanks that you’re happy and healthy.”
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