Kamasi Washington was born in Los Angeles at the start of the 80s into a family where music was akin to breathing. His mother, an accomplished flutist, taught chemistry in high school, and his father, who plays with him in some concerts, was a professional saxophonist by night and high school music teacher by day. By two years old, Kamasi had already started playing the drums and the piano, and by seven he started playing the clarinet.

When examining the arc of one’s artistry, what must be considered above that individual’s personal aptitude of his respective skill is the fact that you are a product of your environment. Terence Blanchard is an arc type for this principle, extracting the rich spirit of his New Orleans upbringing from his trumpet onto everything he’s touched: from his teenage stint with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to his stature as one of the most respected film composers of the last two decades.

René Marie was awarded a coronet ranking by the “Penguin Guide to Jazz” for her album Vertigo, a distinction only given to 84 other jazz recordings. So, who is this woman whose soulful interpretations and mesmerizing performances make people shake and shiver like they’ve been placed under a spell?

It’s one thing when someone else books for you, but since I am an artist and I have a business edge, I want to make sure that everything is taken care of. And maybe I should let somebody else do that, but there have been times when someone else has done it for me and I walked in, and things weren’t as comfortable as I would have wanted them to be. So now I just take that little extra time I have and I make sure that everything is in order from A-Z.

I have seen Stanley Clarke perform a few times: The Playboy Jazz Festival in Pasadena; his home, where I actually sat in with him once; and last week at the Catalina Bar & Grill on October 14, 2010. The man does not disappoint.

When Dizzy was performing, I was looking at him and pinching myself: “This man is actually my employee? I’m employing Dizzy Gillespie?” It’s quite a feeling! His performance was on Easter weekend. My husband bought a big lamb. We cooked it and invited all the musicians. We had a feast that Dizzy Gillespie always talked about.