I had the pleasure of recording this episode inside the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, in L.A., hometown of the talented Wren T. Brown. Wren is an actor, film producer, and theater director, who cofounded the Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT). We talk in-depth about what that company has meant to him and how it has affected an entire community in a positive way. Influenced by the likes of his great uncle Lester Young, black excellence shaped his life and is the subject of his new book, The Family Business: Four Generations of One Black Family's Artistic Odyssey. (Friend and jazz giant Wynton Marsalis wrote the foreword.)

https://thefamilybusinessbook.com

For this episode, I sat down with the young lion Kahlil Childs, an alto saxophonist and multi-reedist who leads his own quartet here in San Diego. At 15, he has already made a name for himself on the local jazz scene. We met to discuss why jazz was the path he discerned for himself, and how learning about jazz legends has inspired him to continue his journey. We talk about what it's like to study under jazz master and alto saxophonist Charles McPherson and Grammy Award-winning producer and U.C. San Diego professor Kamau Kenyatta. He shares his experience of growing up with two present, educated, socially conscious parents and how that has influenced him. He names his current favorite jazz artists and describes the experience of playing with some of his heroes. Lastly we discuss his quartet and where he sees himself in the future, most likely attending a jazz conservatory on the East Coast.

https://kahlilchilds.com

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Kamau Rashid, professor and director of the Kemetic Institute of Chicago. We speak in detail about the importance of African and African-American history and its power to transform the lives of younger generations, and he references the historians and intellectuals who were his own forebears and inspirations. We discuss Nile Valley civilizations, West African history, the Caribbean Islands, Haiti, and the Americas. Dr. Rashid then becomes my first respondent to rapid-fire interviewing, fielding questions about various authors, activists, poets, historians, and scholars. This is the first installment of a series of discussions on black history, with more to come.