WEBVTT - QLS Classic: Norah Jones 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:05.080 Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:07.720 What's Up? 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:09.680 This is unpaid bill from Questlove Supreme. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:11.360 So questlof does this thing. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.360 Usually like once a season where it sits down for 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:15.360 one of them. Many of us do that and you 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:17.880 can expect to hear mine soon. But anyway, back in 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.079 May of twenty twenty, a Mere spoke with Nora Jones 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:22.520 about her career an unlikely journey. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:22.960 Into the spotlight. 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:25.480 There's a lot of heart and soul in this conversation, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.400 and if you know Nora's music, that's no surprise. As 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:31.280 we celebrate women's history months, we are picking special. 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:32.200 Episodes for classics. 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.080 This one is very special and you'll hear why. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.519 All right, this is gonna be silly. Ladies and gentlemen, 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.920 Welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. This is 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:52.120 Questlove Today. I'm solo, solo alone, holding it down to 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.160 the fort without boss or paybilled sugar, Steve Light here 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.320 or take a look. We are very honored today to 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.919 be talking shop with a good friend of mine, multi 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:11.440 Grammy winner, multi instrumentalist, singer just just about everything, almost 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:16.080 almost celebrating twenty years in this industry since her debut. 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.840 What else is there to say? So well rounded, so awesome. 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.800 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Norah Jones to Questlove Supreme. 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:26.760 I'm a cheering accession. 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.360 How you doing, I'll take it. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:31.160 Where are you right now? 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.000 I'm in the country. I'm I'm in a bedroom, my 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.480 bedroom here. Yeah, I'm in bedroom. 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.760 Okay, So I'm sort of in bed, yeah, kind of 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:46.440 in this new reality yep. So yes, of course I 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:51.600 have to ask, like, how are you adjusting to what 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.640 we are now calling the new reality? You know, for 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.320 a lot of creatives, I know this is either a 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:04.040 moment for them to finally just take a breather and 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:10.280 not have to deal with the circle of the work 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.560 that we put into. For other people, it's like, okay, 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:14.960 more creativity, Like where are you falling on this? 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.359 Well, my kids are almost four years old and six, 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:24.560 so I wish I could be more creative, but there 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.639 isn't a ton of time. Okay, but I have little 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:33.560 snippets of ideas and yeah, it's more about how do 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.240 I get them to not yell at me? 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:37.239 Okay? 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:42.720 So you're in that way entertainment mode, yes, exactly, full. 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.119 Time entertainment mood. Okay, I see oh. 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.160 Would you like a hot dog for lunch? 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:46.480 Again? 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:46.960 Okay? 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.400 Cool sor are there? Okay? 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.760 Good? Though it's a good distraction, I'll say that, Okay. Yeah. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:01.359 The prime purpose of the podcast for me is kind 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:10.919 of seeing the the machinery inside the vehicle and always 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.040 the creative process. So, I mean, I know you've been 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.960 asked this a billion times before, but you know, I 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.840 like to take this approach for our viewers or our listeners. 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:22.840 Where were you born? 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:29.880 I was born in New York? Actually, yeah, what part 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.200 of the I think her apartment was like on twenty 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.960 seventh in Lexington, Okay, in Manhattan. Yeah. 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:40.800 Do you know your first musical memory? Your first childhood 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:41.640 musical memory? 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.880 Probably my mom's records. I don't know the exact first, 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.840 but I remember listening to Willie Nelson and Ray Charles 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:51.640 and Aretha Franklin. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.480 So your mom was a promoter, correct, you know? 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:57.600 She she That's how she met my dad. She worked 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.000 for a promoter for a short time, but not really, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:01.280 not like long term. 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.760 So she wasn't the Bill Graham of her error that time. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:09.760 No, she definitely wasn't. She had many careers. She was 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.000 a dancer, and then she broke her ankle, and then 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.440 she was in the theater, and she worked in commercials 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:18.520 behind the scenes, and then she was a real estate 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.440 agent and then a nurse. So she was kind of 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:21.200 all over the place. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:26.599 Okay, So her record collection sort of seeped into you. 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:28.640 What types of records were those? 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:34.200 A lot of gospel, Aretha Franklin, gospel era stuff, a 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:39.800 lot of early Ray Charles country music. She's from Oklahoma, Okay, 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.760 so that was sort of in the water too, because 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.720 I grew up in Texas. We moved to Texas when 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:45.760 I was about three. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:52.039 Really, yeah, so how different was that from well, I 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:53.040 mean not that you would have. 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.400 I don't have that many memories memories, but I actually 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.280 my first memory is of a dream I had of 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.240 playing in the playground at Washington Square Parks. So okay, 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:07.120 I don't really remember. 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.640 So even in the beginning, I mean, what was there 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.040 for you? I know, like a lot of musicians come 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:21.919 through either an older siblings record or you know, like 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:25.599 a cousin or someone that puts them onto it. But 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.039 for you, like, did you also like the music of 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.240 the day, Like I meant, by the time you were 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.120 five or six, like Madonna was a thing so like, 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:38.720 do you remember like your first actual purchase outside of 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:41.200 your mother's record collection. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.000 Yeah, I mean I don't think. I listened to the 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.200 music of the day till I was about nine or ten, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.480 and then I sort of started listening to pop radio. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.120 Oh so you were old soul from zero to. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:55.000 Nine, Well kind of okay, Yeah. 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.520 Explained your seasoning, all right. 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:00.800 I listened to like oldies radio, and you know, for 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.440 us in that generation, it was like the nineteen fifties 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:04.640 and sixties. 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:05.920 Pop music you got tricked. 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.040 Not the Beatles, like not as cool as that yet, 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.000 but like before that, pre that, you know. 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.800 No that that's my story, Like, yeah, which is bad. 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.960 My dad was an oldies duop singer, so I thought 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.039 the thing was that he tricked me. I thought that 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.280 was the music of the day. 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:24.839 That's so funny. 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.520 And then in first grade, like my music teachers like no, yeah, 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.680 like here are the Beg's, here are you know that 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:33.880 sort of thing. But I thought, like Frankie Lyon and 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.599 the teenagers was like I thought there was like a 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.920 new record white a fool small love like that sort 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:39.160 of thing. 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.520 That's pretty funny. Yeah, that was my stuff until I 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.360 was like nine and then because my mom didn't listen 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.279 to pop radio. She listen to NPR, so I didn't 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.440 know about that stuff. Maybe I had like a babysitter 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.360 who was into Madonna. But then when I was nine, 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.560 it was full on whatever was out and popular. I 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:56.040 was into. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.120 So what were you like, how are you relating to 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:02.120 your friend friends in the area, like in school and 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.800 whatnot if you didn't share the same music taste that 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:06.240 they did. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:09.160 I don't even know. I mean I was in choiring 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:14.840 school and church. I don't remember it being weird or 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.760 being feeling different. And then by the time kids were 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.720 more interested in that kind of stuff, I was already listening. 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.000 I think the first cassette I purchased was Digital Underground 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.120 because I liked the humpy dance. Yeah, I loved it. 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:31.840 It was the best thing I'd ever heard. 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:37.480 Okay. Fiona Apple also has a hilarious story where when 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.880 she was making title, I think she was like getting 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.200 gas and she saw like SHATCHI Digital Underground, like lost 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:48.000 it like this around. That's amazing, freaking Digital Underground. Okay. 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:53.480 You mentioned, uh, playing piano in church? What type of 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.400 church was this? Was this? 0:07:55.400 --> 0:08:02.080 This was a Methodist church in you know, suburban Texas. 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:06.160 It was. It was a nice enough church, but they 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.560 had a really Actually I played, I sang in church. 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.880 I didn't play piano in church. But she was a 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:18.200 cool choir director. I think she was a maybe a 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.880 former Catholic, and so she taught us all these Latin hymns, right, 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.560 so it was cool. And then you know, we did 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.600 like our God is an awesome God. And then I 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.680 stopped going to church after that. But oh okay, not 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.680 because of the song, but you know, it was like 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:34.320 a mix of It was a mix of stuff, is 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:34.720 my point. 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.560 Trust me. Everyone has their church Exodus booth exactly. 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.960 Yeah, I see that, the children choir basically. 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:47.880 Okay, well she be noted you went to you went 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:52.840 to Booker t Washington. Yeah, high school. Yeah, notables. So 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.280 I meant at the time, well, Roy is way older 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:55.640 than you. 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.120 Yeah, he was older, but he was like the hometown hero. 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.000 So were you in school at the time of Erica 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:03.840 or was that. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.240 Even she was with Well she was a little bit 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.960 older too, and her album came out when I was 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.600 a junior maybe or a senior. So again it was 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.559 like a huge big deal for us all and I 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.880 was obsessed with that album and it was so cool. 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:20.800 She came back and like did a talk at the 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.000 school and it was fine, Okay. 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.440 What is it about that high school? Is that a 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:31.839 performing arts high school? Or so what is it? Because oftentimes, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.960 I mean when people think of Texas, we don't think 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:40.679 of like performing arts schools and you know, type of 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.480 artistic expressions and that sort of thing. But like, is 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.200 the community like that down there or. 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.880 I mean, Texas is a big place. The Dallas area 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:58.160 is a huge suburban place full of small neighborhoods, you know, 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.760 or big neighborhoods, so you know, you can travel twenty 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:06.960 miles and it's completely different community. But so this school 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.520 was cool because it draws. It draws from all over 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:12.920 the city. You have to audition to get in, but 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.959 anybody can go there. So kids were commuting from all 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:20.240 over the city and it was sort of a it 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.280 was I don't know, it was like the place where 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.360 all the cool, weird artists went ended up. You know. 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.760 I came from like a super heavy football marching band situation. 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.800 Cheerleaders were queens of the school. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.080 Tea. You were in the marching band. I was. I 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.520 played saxophone, you played saxophone. 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.680 I mean I haven't in thirty or twenty five years maybe. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.840 But if you see a saxophone, I'm assuming the alto 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:51.560 or a tenor like alto. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.640 I do hold a special place for marching band in 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:56.079 my heart. 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:58.960 But you'll never pick up a sax again. 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:04.680 I mean, so gross. I still have my saxophone. No, no, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.040 the saxophone is not gross. I still have my saxophone, 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.079 and I think like the read is still attached from 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.680 twenty five years. It's probably disgusting and growing up kinds 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.280 of mold in it, but for some reason, I still 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:16.920 have it somewhere. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.120 I feel like you're the type of creative that will 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.520 You're the type of artist that I feel as though 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:31.360 you you like experiments. You often change, evolve and go 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.360 through metamorphosis. I do. 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:35.000 I like that. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.920 That's feeling. Okay, when you break out your saxophone, I'll 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:40.600 be in that bad. 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.520 I don't know about that. I don't know if that's 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.800 going to happen. I need to practice guitar more. 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:51.280 First. You always down here, Like every clip I see 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.679 of you and you talk about your guitar. You always 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:55.280 saying like I need to prove my guitar. I need 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:59.240 to prove. Yeah, I do you seem to do fine? 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:01.320 Or are you saying that you just hide well behind 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.839 whoever's playing. Oh that's the secret. 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.560 Well, I think my thing on guitar is cool. I 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.440 just I don't play enough. I'm not I'm not good 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.240 at just playing music at home all the time. I 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.600 don't know how you are if you're always playing no 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.360 matter what. For so long. I think I just worked 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.520 so much I didn't even think about having to play 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.480 or practice, and so now when I'm not working at all, 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.000 I'm like, I forget to play, you know. 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.880 I was going to say, I wanted to know well 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.520 before I get into that, I wanted to know what 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.000 your When when did piano was? I mean, when all 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:43.360 said and done, do you consider the piano your acts 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.520 of choice? Or voice and acts of choice? When did 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:47.560 you start playing piano? 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:51.440 I started playing piano when I was seven, and I 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.480 wanted to take piano lessons really bad, and so my 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.040 mom got a piano and after a couple of weeks, 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.000 I wanted to quit because I didn't like the idea 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:04.000 of having to practice, you know, and so my mom, Yeah, 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.720 my mom was like, no, I bought you a piano 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.040 because you wanted to play, and she said, I have 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:12.640 She said you have to take into for five years 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.959 and that way, and then you can quit that way 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:16.720 if you ever want to go back to it'll be easier. 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.480 And I thought that was pretty annoying at the time, 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.440 but in hindsight, it's pretty It was pretty cool because 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.520 after five years I quit, like on the dot. I 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.000 was like, all right, my five years is up? Really 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.680 more scales? Yeah, I just didn't want to practice. 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.760 How many hours a day did you have to practice? 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:39.680 I'm the most lazy, p procrastinating practicer. But I don't 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.800 even remember. But I know I had a really good teacher. 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:45.640 She was awesome, but it was just the classical style 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.960 of learning and it didn't spark a lot of creativity 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.640 in my mind for some reason. So I quit. And 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.679 then about a year later, my mom took me to like, 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.200 I don't know, some she took me to a big 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.920 band concert, and then she took me to see Mary 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.320 and McPartland play in the park, right, and I said, 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.000 this is cool? What's this? 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:08.080 You know? 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.320 And so she found this teacher. Well, I think I 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.400 was playing saxophone by that time. In Marching Band, and 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.520 my saxophone teacher recommended this jazz piano teacher in Dallas 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.040 named Julie Bank. She was super cool and she was 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.240 a great teacher. She taught me how to readcord changes 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.040 and improvise and tried to spark me and writing songs. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.840 So it just totally took a different direction from then. 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:37.800 So this is how you're discovering jazz chops. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.680 Yeah, this is like eighth grade when I got into 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.480 jazz and my mom she checked out, like, you know, 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:49.440 the Smithsonian Jazz Collection at the library and we dubbed 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:51.680 it on a cassette and then that was my bible 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:52.520 for a few years. 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:59.280 Really. Yeah, So how did you hone those chaps into 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.920 like did you play and local bands? High school bands? 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:09.080 Like did you bond with anybody your age in jazz 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:10.000 or yeah? 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.200 I just keep it to yourself, well being in Marching band. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.320 I mean the kids in Marching Band already were sort 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.800 of into stuff like that, some of them there was 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.560 like a jazz band. And then I went to interlock 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:23.680 In for a summer. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:25.040 What is that? 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.120 It's like an arts camp in Michigan and it's too Yeah, 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:37.480 it's two months long and I got really into hanging 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.840 with people who knew a lot about it, you know, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.040 and then I really wanted to go there. They had 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.520 a they have a school during the year and arts school, 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.360 but you have to leave home. It's like a what 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.360 do you call it? A school where you live there. 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.080 My brain isn't working right now. But my mom was like, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:16:00.280 no way, You're not leaving home. Oh yeah. I just 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.480 loved it. It was great, and I wanted to continue 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:06.880 doing it, and she was like, hell no. Checked the 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.560 school out and she found Booker T Washington and we 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.360 moved to Dallas just so I could be in county 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.880 to audition and go there, and then all the kids there. 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.520 That's I mean, I learned from the kids at my school. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.240 I learned so much. So many of those kids knew 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.920 so much about music, so many geniuses, you know. 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:33.240 Probably I was going to say any other notable students 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:34.400 at they're at the time that. 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.600 Are like, well, I think the people that I learned 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.440 the most with were piano players who a couple of 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.480 them were a year or two older, like I was 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.720 there when Brayln Lacey was there, and Sean Martin on 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:51.960 the keys. R. C. Williams right I learned so much 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:55.400 from these guys. They grew up in church, playing piano 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.560 in the church bands and stuff, and they knew. I mean, 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.920 they're just geniuses anyway. But I don't know. It was 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.160 a cool, cool environment. 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.000 Was an equally like a sort of accepting atmosphere or 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.640 did you feel like, all right, I got to come 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.560 with it and let them know I speak the same language, 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.680 or no, I'm such a dork. 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.280 I was just like, Hi, guys, can I hang out 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:24.920 with you? It was super accepting. Everybody there was an oddball, 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.240 you know anyway, so everybody was cool. 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:34.399 See I went to I went to school with Christian 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:39.920 McBride and Joey de Francisco Wow and and Kurt Roseawinkle 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:47.159 and I can. I I always compare going to that 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.040 the school I went to the Philadelphia version of that 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:56.399 school kind of as I consider it, sort of like 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:58.760 a it was like a gang experience, like a Bloods 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:04.040 and Crypts experience. And Joey and Chris like they wouldn't 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.120 even they don't give you the time of day or respect, 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:11.399 like you instantly know that they're the alphas of band 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.480 class and that you had to I mean the first 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:20.200 day of school the first day of school, Miles Davis 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.520 is giving a masterclass and not only takes Joey and 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.320 Chris to do this thing with him on television, but 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:33.560 then later hires Joey's to replace Kenny Kirkland. So that 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.119 was like my first day at the school. And so 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:41.200 you know, they just knew all traditional jazz. Meanwhile, Kurt Rosenwinkle, 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:47.200 who's such an experimental avant garde musician. I mean he's 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.760 on Verb Records right now, but back then he was 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:55.600 trying to unlearn me or unteach me all the traditional 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.399 like the traditional stuff, and he's like, nah, man, I 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.920 want you to listening to Frank Zappa, Yeah, Captain Beefheart 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:07.560 and you know Minor Vshue Orchestra John mclaughing. So you know, 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.280 I was like trying to I was on like both 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:10.040 sides of the gang. 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:11.960 That's great for you. 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:14.600 I'm in school, but then I left them both for 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:15.560 a rap career. 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.680 So oh you're informed. You're informed by all of it, 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:22.080 and you became who you are. 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.959 You know, it helped, but it was it was like 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.639 it was literally like being into like whatever side was winning, 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:28.440 that was my side. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:33.119 Like okay, that's funny. Here there the ping pong ball exactly. 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.399 I didn't feel that. I know that attitude you're talking about. 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.359 It's like a young musician thing, for sure, I feel like, 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.359 but I didn't feel that at my school. Maybe I 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.240 was too naive to see it, but I never I 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.840 never felt it. It's pretty pretty welcoming, honestly. 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.240 I mean before your career took off. I mean, did 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.840 you have a plan just for like, Okay, I'll do 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:08.040 the college thing, go to Berkeley or go to Yeah. 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.800 I well, we were in Dallas, so I did. I 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:15.480 wanted to go to like the New School or Manhattan 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:20.480 School Music, but we stayed in state tuition because University 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.920 of North Texas has a great jazz program, okay, And 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.480 so I went there for two years and I took 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.800 all my classes, all my music classes, and I failed 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.640 my classical piano jury because I just didn't practice enough. 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:38.240 And then I came to New York for the summer, 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.240 and I had a real sort of moment of reckoning, 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.000 and I thought, well, if I go back to finish college, 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:48.960 I'm gonna have to take academics for two years because 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:51.240 I already took all the jazz classes and I'm going 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:55.080 to have to do classical two years of classical juries 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.320 and really practice, and I just didn't want to do 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:57.760 any of that. 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:01.800 What does that mean? What did it 't tell? Like 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:03.080 the classical jury. 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.639 Part, it's not that it was so hard. It's that 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:09.320 I really just didn't practice enough. It was like scales 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:13.440 and arpeggios and one song. It wasn't that hard. I 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:17.160 was really into the other stuff I was doing, and 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:18.720 I kind of let it slide. 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.880 Understandable. I'm just standable. So once she came to New York, 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:27.320 what was the paradigm shift that really opened its doors 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:32.520 as far as like, Okay, I can have a career 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:34.560 and start singing. Like what was that moment? 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:40.440 Well, I mean I realized that I could play gigs 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.720 and but I would have to start witting tables. It 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:46.480 was different because in college I had a weekly gig 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:50.800 where I made enough money to make my rent and 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:55.399 plus tips and food. I played at this restaurant and 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:57.439 I learned how to sing and play at the same time, 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:01.360 which is sort of It was just like paid practice. 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.919 So it was great. But then when I moved to 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.520 New York, I realized, oh shit, I gotta wait tables 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:09.080 because I can't make enough money playing gigs because they 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:14.000 didn't pay very much at all, and I got a 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:17.400 little burnt out. I came to New York singing jazz 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:20.040 and playing the piano, but I wasn't as good a 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:23.560