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 Copy Share Image
L.A. is a big city that has a lot of music in it but is not necessarily known for it. A lot of musicians got lost in that. You can make a living; you can gig a lot within the… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
Every day we're here is an opportunity to do what we can to make the world right, to help someone close or far from… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
I was hearing music in my head and trying to play it on the clarinet, but it didn't match.' Then, literally the first day,… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
So much good music has been looked over because of preconceived notions of genre. — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
It's either, like, 'Your album was the first jazz album I listened to,' or, like, 'My friend took me to this show, and I've… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
This precious thing of empathy and love and understanding is something we have to hold and appreciate and protect. — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
By the time I was about 15, I was out playing gigs and knew I was going to be a musician. — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
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… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
West Coast hip hop was the sound of my neighbourhood. It was something I could relate to because it had a sound that felt… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
We've played so many places where, if you asked people, 'Do you like jazz?' they would be like, 'Not at all.' But I think… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
In the '80s, a lot of kids, if you were kind of bright, you got bussed to schools out of your community. So you… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
Jazz is like a telescope, and a lot of other music is like a microscope. — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
At a certain point, when there's a barrier between you and what's right, eventually you have to decide you're not going to allow yourself… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
I started playing drums at three, then piano at five, then clarinet. But it wasn't till I picked up a saxophone aged 13 that… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
You have to dig deep to make great music, and it gets harder and harder. It's a difficult, painful process to reach deep in… — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
Fela Kuti blew my mind. His playing is very unorthodox, but I learned how to appreciate that. — Kamasi Washington Copy Share Image
