# Jawanza Kobie talks music and making do: Photos, Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/04/02/jawanza-kobie-talks-music-and-making-do-photos-video/
- Published: 2021-04-02T21:36:50+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**“As soon as I reached retirement age, I was out of there,” says composer Jawanza
Kobie. “I had already released my first CD, but I wanted to do it full time.” From
the time he attended Settlement Music School as a young teenager, West Philly native
Jawanza Kobie, now 66, has wanted to be known as a jazz composer.**

Though he jokes that he intended the title of his newly released second album, _Jawanza
Kobie Jazz Composer_, to serve as a “business card,” it also commemorates the fulfillment
of a lifelong dream.

Following his retirement in 2014 after 33 years as a mechanic and manager for SEPTA,
he has finally dedicated himself wholly to music. “As soon as I reached retirement
age, I was out of there,” said the Wilmington-based pianist, keyboardist, and composer.

“I had already released my first CD, but I wanted to do it full time. I just said,‘
This is it. I have to do it now or never.’”

Kobie had never abandoned music, even throughout his decades with SEPTA. He moonlighted
as a producer and songwriter for Alpha International Studios, wrote scores for TV
commercials and independent films, and amassed an impressive stockpile of compositions
that largely went unheard.

But after studying at Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music and touring for
a year with soul singer Billy Paul in the late ’70s, he realized that the musician’s
life wasn’t particularly lucrative. “I developed a habit,” he jokes: “I liked to
eat, and I didn’t want to mess that habit up.”

He also had a young family at home to feed. Between his studies at Settlement and
his years at Berklee, Kobie had attended Dobbins Technical High School and served
an apprenticeship as a journeyman electrician, so he applied those skills to what
he calls the “steel wheels” side of SEPTA, working on the transportation service’s
rail trains and trolleys.

After a decade as a mechanic, he went into management, running the motor shops at
69th Street and Woodland and, for a brief span, serving as assistant director at
Fern Rock Transportation Center.

“If you rode the Broad Street subway from 2005 to 2007 and you made it safely, it
was because of my department,” Kobie said. “But it was a 24/7 situation and was 
taking too much time away from music. So I asked them to put me back into a lesser
position.”

That allowed Kobie to release his long-overdue debut album, _Feels Better Than It
Sounds,_ in 2013, a year before his retirement.

![Pianist Jawanza Kobie sits for a portrait at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz
and Performing Arts in South Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. He released
his second album, "Jawanza Kobie Jazz Composer," on Feb. 26.](https://i0.wp.com/
cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/STLMWSOGQFAYFFGWQQ2ZWMBCRU.jpg?
w=640&ssl=1)

Pianist Jawanza Kobie sits for a portrait at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz 
and Performing Arts in South Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. He released
his second album, “Jawanza Kobie Jazz Composer,” 

With newfound time on his hands Kobie began frequenting local jam sessions, and 
in 2016, he was among the artists selected for the Kimmel Center’s annual Jazz Residency
program. There he wrote _Bird Stories_, a jazz-centric take on Prokofiev’s _Peter
and the Wolf _intended to introduce young listeners to the instruments and concepts
of jazz through a musical fable.

“That meant everything to me,” Kobie said of the Kimmel Center commission. “I have
never won anything in my life. So to be recognized at this age — I get emotional
just thinking about it. Somebody paying you to write what you want to write? Man,
you can’t beat that.”

That sentiment captures Kobie’s attitude towards his own music. Never intent on 
becoming a star, he’s a self-described introvert whose passion lies in the backstage
details of the music rather than the spotlight. He even contemplated enlisting another
pianist for his new album, though he ended up filling the role himself.

“I always picked up records and looked at who wrote and arranged the music — the
behind-the-scenes stuff. I was more enamored with [Motown songwriters] Holland-Dozier-
Holland than the stars they wrote for. [Beatles producer] George Martin is a big
hero of mine. That’s what I gravitated towards.”

![Jawanza Kobie's new album, Jawanza Kobie Jazz Composer](https://i0.wp.com/cloudfront-
us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/LT2A3SEXZNCF7JCTAQLM36VZVI.jpg?w=640&ssl=
1)

Jawanza Kobie’s new album, Jawanza Kobie Jazz

_Jawanza Kobie Jazz Composer_ continues along the lines of its predecessor, sleek
contemporary jazz full of funky grooves, hummable melodies, and pop songcraft redolent
of Steely Dan or Grover Washington Jr.

As with all of his work, Kobie wrote the music with a strong emphasis on accessibility.“
My idol, Quincy Jones, said, ‘If you can’t whistle it, it ain’t worth a [damn].’
So I try to make melodies that you can whistle, that you can instantly memorize.”

Kobie’s own introduction to jazz had come via artists with a similar attitude. He
was hooked on the music the day his father brought home a copy of Oscar Peterson’s
rollicking _Night Train_ and later worshipped pianist Ramsey Lewis, who scored crossover
hits with pop tunes like “The In Crowd” and “Hang On Sloopy.”

Like them, Kobie surrounds himself with top-notch players. _Jazz Composer_ features
many of Philly’s most respected musicians, including bassists Lee Smith and Mike
Boone, drummers Webb Thomas and Harry “Butch” Reed, trumpeter Leon Jordan Jr. and
guitarist Anthony DeCarlo.

On two tracks, he reunites with some of the musicians who’d played in his short-
lived big band at Berklee, including saxophonist and former Jazz Messenger Bill 
Pierce.

The pandemic has been difficult for many musicians, but Kobie has embraced the opportunity
to focus on composing even more new music. “This is what I like to do,” he said.“
It’s good for someone who likes to be in his own company. I would love people to
hear this music, but regardless of who hears it, I’m going to keep writing.”

![Pianist Jawanza Kobie at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts
in South Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. He released his second album,"
Jawanza Kobie Jazz Composer," on Feb. 26.](https://i0.wp.com/www.inquirer.com/resizer/
N_tQQZuY4GEdIugqNx7wScA6gt4%3D/760x507/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.
com/pmn/XGBOF6MLIJF75MEJRELZCQ4YHQ.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1)

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