00:21 parents I think I was 6 years old and 00:24 they asked me what do you think about 00:26 taking some piano lessons and I didn't 00:29 really know any reason to say no I said 00:31 sure why not 00:32 and just stuck with it and over the 00:35 years it sort of became sort of a part 00:38 of my voice 00:45 yeah I've studied classical piano for 00:48 about 1011 years and I went to LA County 00:53 High School for the Arts and that's when 00:54 I sort of started to focus more on jazz 00:56 music and started meeting kids my own 00:59 age we're really excited about the music 01:01 which was very inspiring and sort of 01:04 pushes you along also then I went to USC 01:07 for two years study with Shelly Berg 01:11 then I went to Manhattan school music 01:13 for my junior year got to study with 01:16 Kenny Barron that year and I came back 01:17 to USC to finish up my degree standing 01:20 with Billy child's so that's the formal 01:24 education but I think as a lot of people 01:27 know this music is is really a 01:30 self-taught art form so the most 01:34 valuable experiences are really just the 01:36 records that you listen to over and over 01:38 and over growing up and the jam sessions 01:41 that you go to and get your butt kicked 01:42 at and so I went through all the the 01:46 usual dues-paying as it were and along 01:50 with going to school 01:57 no I didn't really feel any sort of 02:00 extra pressure 02:01 I think this music is daunting enough 02:04 for anybody you know and I think the 02:10 advantage is definitely outweigh any 02:13 sort of negative aspects of coming from 02:16 a musical family just being able to see 02:19 the lifestyle behind the music getting 02:21 to see these you know the rehearsals and 02:23 the sound checks and sort of the love 02:25 that these grown men had for the music 02:28 go men and women but they would get 02:30 together and just tell jokes and give 02:31 each other hugs and it was a really 02:33 loving environment I think that's the 02:35 main thing I took away from from you 02:37 know being in a musical family but yeah 02:40 the the you got a you got a surrender 02:43 and be humble to the music regardless of 02:45 where you come from 02:52 some of my teachers and mentors 02:54 obviously my father and my uncle my 02:57 family but I had the fortune of touring 03:01 with Roy Hargrove for three years which 03:03 was a great experience 03:06 clark terry i got to work with him a 03:08 little bit and that was really great 03:11 boy the list is really long but it's 03:15 long because it's all my peers it's all 03:17 the people that i play with i feel like 03:18 every time I hit the bandstand with 03:20 somebody it's it's a learning experience 03:21 in some way so you know all my favorite 03:25 musicians that I love to work with now 03:27 like Ambrose a commuter he and Dana 03:29 Stevens and Gretchen Parr lotto satchel 03:32 vest and Donny 03:33 Logan Richardson mark Turner the list 03:37 really goes on and on and on and like I 03:40 said every time you play with them you 03:42 sort of you feel yourself expanding or 03:45 growing in a certain direction 03:53 my first paid gig was at like a country 03:57 club somewhere in LA for some sort of 04:01 event for I think it was like high 04:03 school athletes or something and at the 04:05 time I had mostly classical music in my 04:08 repertoire and a few like boogie-woogie 04:11 pieces and I just sort of cycled them 04:14 over and over and over I don't even 04:16 remember would have paid probably under 04:18 $100 maybe $50 gig or something but I 04:21 think I was maybe 12 or 13 so that was a 04:24 was a cool big deal for me 04:33 the first record that I fell in love 04:36 with was Oscar Peterson Nightrain I had 04:40 just listened to that over and over and 04:42 over until I was singing every single 04:45 note and at some point sat down the 04:48 piano so let me try to figure some of 04:49 this out and still have to do some work 04:53 on that and but it's it's still one of 04:55 my favorites I still go back to that I 04:58 was really into Oscar as a young age so 05:01 I was checking out Oscar Peterson plus 05:02 Clark Terry trio plus one that's another 05:05 desert island record for me Oscar 05:09 Peterson with Milt Jackson very tall so 05:11 that's all my Oscar stuff then I you 05:14 know I went through all the greats went 05:15 through Herbie and Chick and Keith and 05:18 Brad Mehldau and Gonzalo Rubalcaba so 05:21 the list is long now but it all started 05:23 from that that first Oscar record 05:30 yeah times are certainly different you 05:33 know there's not as many bands to twirl 05:35 with year around and learn from the way 05:38 that there were and back in the day with 05:40 the Art Blakey band and Betty Carter and 05:43 but I think that there are still there's 05:48 a plethora of amazing musicians on the 05:50 scene and I think you may have to be a 05:54 little more proactive but you can seek 05:56 those people out and sort of still 05:58 follow that old model of being an 06:02 apprentice to a particular sound a 06:04 particular style or a particular 06:06 musician so it's still possible but I 06:09 think it just takes a little bit more 06:10 proactivity 06:24 you