How many songs are on your iPod?
Too many. It's not right. It's like more than I can actually listen to. I like this band Little Dragon now. Earth, Wind & Fire; Jimi Hendrix; Dave Holland — that band is awesome. George Walker; he's a classical composer. He's really special. I've been listening to his trombone concertos. Jaki Byard. Really beautiful music. Whatever catches my eye. The list goes on and on. Different days command different music. If I really like a record, I'll keep listening to it. I'm still listening to a record I got in November called Music for the Fifth World. That's gonna be on there for a while. That's how it goes.
You've complained that when a female jazz artist is good, people say she's "like a dude."
People are more used to seeing men who are masters at an instrument than women. When people say, "Oh, she plays like a dude," it's usually dudes who are the ones saying it. They're saying, "Oh, she's as good as us." Of course, that's a stupid statement. It's totally stereotypical to say, "We have an advantage on this, and if anyone else can do it well, it's only because they're like us." I think more men are starting to learn that this attitude is totally hollow and based in imagination. As more women are involved in music, this kind of thing gets said less and less.
What kinds of music did you listen to as a kid? How did you get into jazz?
Oh, I listened to all kinds of stuff, shoot. A lot of classical music. I loved the oldies station. My mom thought the other stuff wasn't good for my brain. But I would hang out at friends' houses and listen to the radio, so I also liked all the stuff that people my age were liking — Janet Jackson, LL Cool J. I was digging that along with the oldies, or what I thought were oldies: Motown and British rock bands from the '50s, '60s, '70s. Once I picked up the bass, I started listening to jazz. It was like, whoa, things clicked. It started to seem like, oh, this is really something. I could become good at this.
In elementary school, you got pneumonia and had to be homeschooled, so you basically taught yourself. That takes a lot of discipline.
Actually, the learning part was fun. I had been excelling in school, but I didn't miss the social mess and drama. I think there's so much negative influence on children in school settings. It becomes learning by rote to pass a test. It's not contextualized. My mom was really good at making things seem interesting.
Your mother sounds like a good role model.
She is. She took the time to ensure that my brother and I got a good education and were being fed with love. She had the endurance and willingness to push through, work hard, and provide for her family. My story isn't unique — it's common, particularly in our country: Most people are going through real nose-to-the-grindstone surviving. These people are heroes — it's incredibly trying on the body and spirit to survive. You just keep going.
You know, I have a funny parable from this morning. My boyfriend and I went for a walk: He wanted to climb up a mountain outside of Cape Town. We started climbing, and it seemed kind of dangerous, and I was getting really nervous. He kept saying, "Let's just make it to the top!" I stopped like three quarters of the way up and said, "No. This doesn't seem safe. Let's go back." He said, "No, no, no, let's get up there, and then we'll see how to get down!" Now, going back down the way we had come actually would have been dangerous. But we got to the top, and we saw a path up there that actually was the safest way down. From the top of the hill, we had the best perspective. That really happened today! On the way down, I was laughing — I can't believe I was that person who wanted to stop three quarters of the way up.
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