025 I AM The Band with Patrice Rushen

Recording Artist, Composer, Pianist, Songwriter, Musical Director, Music Educator and Trailblazer Patrice Rushen has spent a lifetime honing the skills that makes her one of the music industry’ss most versatile and sought after artists. She has performed with and produced with such esteemed artists such as as Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Prince, Tom Jones, Carlos Santana, Boys II Men, George Benson, Nancy Wilson Micheal Jackson, Sheena Easton and many more. An award winning composer and songwriter, she has performed with and composed works for Philharmonic Orchestras, Film and Television. She constantly receives requests to sample her music, one of the most notable uses being Will Smith’s “Men in Black” which samples her 1982 Grammy Nominated recording “Forget me Nots”. As an advocate for music education she holds the position of Ambassador of Artistry and Education at the Berklee College of Music as well as the chair of the Popular Music Program at USC’s Thorton School of Music. She holds an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music for her “outstanding contribution to music and culture.”

What you will hear:

• Patrice’s early exposure to music.
  
• USC preparatory school
  
• How learning to play the flute influenced Patrice’s perception and application of music.
  
• High School and the expectation of excellence.
  
• Earth, Wind and Fire.
  
• Work ethic through service.
  
• The joy and the power of music creation.
  
• Learning that there are no limitations through experience and example.
  
• Exposure, opportunity and expectation.
  
• Genre crossover and evolution of Patrice’s music making.
  
• Forward thinking teaching and early opportunities to write and arrange.
  
• Conceptual knowledge and transferable knowledge.
  
• Commercial music and the evolution of music education.
  
• Dancing on Soul Train.
  
• Keeping aspirations and setting a high bar.
  

Quotes:

“In the arts, there is an effort that is being made to the larger picture than just your own excellence. It calls for personal responsibility but also calls to the responsibility to the collective.”

“I was a music ed major, with a minor in classical piano, with the intention of doing neither one.”

“Whatever your gonna do you need to be really good at it and you need to love it.”

“While you may not initially get to do the thing that you are aspiring to do, there’s 15 other things that will lead you to that same place, and to have multiple options to get to where you are trying to go is what it’s all about.”

“The 21st century musician is a musician who can weep at Brahms, James Brown and Hip Hop all at the same time.”

“We were all training to be so bad we could play with anybody.”

Mentioned:

Mary Clay

The Colburn School

Reggie Andrews

Donald Dustin

Frank Harris

Soul Train

Melba Liston

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