48 Kamasi Washington Quotes for You to Enjoy

Kamasi Washington

American Musician

Born: Feb 18, 1981

Jazz Me Music People World You

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When you're making music, you're creeping up on your heart and pouring it out into something. Kamasi Washington

Music You Heart Out Something Pouring Making Up Your Creeping

We've now got a whole generation of jazz musicians who have been brought up with hip-hop. We've grown up alongside rappers and DJs; we've heard this music all our life. We are as fluent in J Dilla and Dr Dre as we are in Mingus and Coltrane. Kamasi Washington

Life Music Musicians Generation Jazz Fluent Our Dre Rappers Brought Coltrane Alongside Got Hip-Hop Been Heard Up Jazz Musicians Who Whole Grown Now Grown-Up Dr

I never had a problem moving between jazz and hip-hop. Kamasi Washington

Problem Jazz Never Had Between Hip-Hop Moving

My dad was a professional musician; my mom played, too, but just for fun. All my siblings played. The house was full of music books, videos, albums. I guess it's not surprising that I ended up becoming a musician. Kamasi Washington

I went to a music academy in Los Angeles, and some friends started playing me Ravel and Prokofiev, who I liked, but what really blew me away was 'The Rite of Spring.' That's what made me get interested in classical music for real and want to study it. Kamasi Washington

Music Me Made Spring Some Angeles Classical Classical Music Rite Ravel Study Liked Academy Blew Real Los Los Angeles Friends Get Want Interested Really Who Away Started Playing

The idea of the beauty of diversity came from just growing up where I grew up. Los Angeles is a very big city - there's Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, there's African-Americans, Latinos, Europeans. Kamasi Washington

Diversity Beauty Big Latinos City Angeles Idea Armenia Big City Los Came Los Angeles Up Very Just Where Grew Chinatown Little Ethiopia Tokyo Europeans Growing Growing Up

Jazz is an interesting music. It's one of the few forms of music where everyone that's performing the music has a creative stake in the music. In jazz, everyone's improvising, and everyone's creating at the same time. Kamasi Washington

Music Time Creative Few Jazz Everyone Performing Same Improvising Same Time Where Forms Interesting Stake Creating

People need to realize that even the greatest jazz musicians, when they listen to jazz, they're not like, analyzing it and deconstructing it - they're enjoying it. It's like listening to any other style of music. It's saying something to you, and you kind of just absorb it. Kamasi Washington

Music Saying You Musicians People Listening Style Jazz Other Analyzing Kind Something Absorb Like Greatest Any Listen Just Realize Jazz Musicians Even Enjoying Need

My dad was really into avant garde jazz: Archie Shepp, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. Kamasi Washington

Jazz John John Coltrane Archie Coltrane Avant-Garde Really Dad

I started playing with this band, the Polyester Players. It was my introduction into funk. So I went and got a James Brown record. 'Black Caesar' is a film score, but it's so dope. Kamasi Washington

Black Band Dope Introduction Record Brown Caesar Got Score James James Brown Polyester Film Players Started Playing Funk

My dad's also a musician, so jazz was always around the house. When I was 11, I developed an interest in it, and he took me to Leimert Park. At that time, it was the artistic hub of L.A., and it was right in South Central. The first concert I went to, I saw Pharoah Sanders at the World Stage club there, which only holds, like, 30 people. Kamasi Washington

Time Me People World First Stage Club Jazz Took Saw Musician Only Park Developed He Like House Also Concert Around Always Hub South Artistic Holds Which Central Interest Dad Right World Stage

At the time of 'The Epic,' as a core band, we were all spending so much time apart making music for other people that by the time we got together - even though we grew up together and there's a special connection we have - it was like a rare privilege to come together. Kamasi Washington

Music Time Together People Rare Band Other Spending Though Rare Privilege Come Like Got Making Were Up Privilege So Much Time Grew Apart Epic Much Special Connection Even By The Time Core

We started 'Heaven And Earth' in 2016. That was probably the heaviest touring year of my whole life. We probably did almost 200 shows in 2016. We went into the studio, and I honestly didn't know what the album was going to be. So I just kind of started picking songs that I liked. Kamasi Washington

We learned at a young age, with our dad, that even if you weren't doing something, you had to look like you were, or some hard labor was coming your way. That's the reason I started practicing music - when I was practicing, Pops left me alone. Kamasi Washington

Music Alone Me You Age Young Our Way Some Something Had Like Look Learned Practicing Coming Doing Were Left Labor Young Age Your Hard Reason Pops Even Dad Started

When I was about seventeen, I had a group called the Young Jazz Giants. We played all originals. When we would finish playing, people would be like, 'Oh my God, that was so nice, that was so great.' But Pops would never tell us we were the best. He would give it to us straight, like, 'You're out of tune. You're dropping beats.' Kamasi Washington

God Best Great You People Young Jazz Nice Group Seventeen Giants Out Tell Would Would-Be About Give Finish Never Had Beats He Dropping Like Were Oh Oh My God Tune Straight Us Pops Originals Played Playing

A legacy is a lot of times determined by how people accept your music. And sometimes people's legacy starts late or starts early, or they last a long time or a short amount of time. As a musician, I've never taken an approach of wanting to try to control that because I don't think that I can. Kamasi Washington

Music Time People Sometimes Try Long Long Time Control Think Starts Late Approach Musician Determined Never Taken Accept Because How Lot Legacy Times Short Wanting Your Amount Early Last

I used to tell my friends, 'Art Blakey is way more gangster than Eazy-E!' I ended up getting my friends into jazz, and all of a sudden there was this little group of kids in the middle of South Central that were all into hard-bop. Kamasi Washington

Music is this medium to express who I am and what I've been through and my thoughts and what my feelings on the world are. We're all on the planet together; I'm just using this medium to express how I see it. Kamasi Washington

Music Thoughts Together World Feelings Medium See Through How Am Been Just Planet Who Using Express

As a musician, your instrument is almost predetermined. I had played drums, piano, clarinet, but when I heard Wayne Shorter play the saxophone, I knew that sound is what I wanted. Kamasi Washington

Saxophone Wayne Musician Clarinet Piano Had Knew Almost Drums Instrument Sound Heard Wanted Predetermined Your Play Played

Music doesn't come out of you, it comes through you. You are almost like a messenger. Kamasi Washington

Music You Out Through Almost Come Like Messenger

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