Kevin Washington’s musical journey from Detroit to Walker West

When Kevin Washington was 2 years old, his great-aunt sent him a drum set from Mobile, Alabama. The toddler sat on the couch in the front room watching his parents put the ensemble together.

Washington later learned it was a major undertaking to get those drums from Alabama to Detroit, where he was born, both financially and logistically. Now, 48 years later, he still plays.

“When I found out how serious the situation was, I’m like, ‘well, I kept playing. It was worth it,” Washington said with a laugh.

In his preteens, Washington began playing piano and guitar. Born into music, both of his parents were musicians and music educators. His father played all reed instruments, while his mother played flute, cello and piano and was also an opera singer. Both were band directors in Detroit and later in Minneapolis.

The family moved to Minnesota when Washington was in seventh grade because “Detroit fell apart,” he said, citing a rise in violence, crime and a struggling school system.

Deciding between Alaska, Seattle and Minnesota, the couple chose Minneapolis because of influence from Michael Cheney. The other two options were also too far from immediate family in Chicago, Gary, Maryland and Southern states.

There was a disconnect entering Minnesota’s jazz scene because of differences in culture and style, Washington said.

He went from having Black music teachers in Detroit to white teachers in Northeast Minneapolis, while being surrounded by jazz legends and kids who looked like him playing. Detroit was a mecca for music: jazz, R&B and reggae… Black music, Washington said.

“[Jazz] was our DNA, [it] was our religion,” he said. “I was getting it from the source where the people weren’t really getting it from the source here.”

“It was hard adjusting to play with white jazz musicians when I was used to only playing with Black people and getting it the original way and being taught from the people who helped create it.”

In his new home, even kids who looked like him didn’t understand what he was doing or care, he said.

“It shocked me because we thought all Black kids were getting that and just not in Detroit, but everywhere, and you found out quickly that wasn’t happening. Things were happening differently here.”

Washington felt jazz was played too “nice” and polite.

“Jazz is not polite. It’s not nice,” he said. “Jazz was like hip-hop, street music, had its own culture, its own dialect.”

Over time, he found a pocket of people who shared his perspective in Rondo.

“I love Minneapolis, but when it came to Black folks, I related to those Rondo Black folks. They reminded me of Black folks in Detroit and Harlem.”

Washington is Black music, he said. Known for jazz, he is also deeply rooted in R&B, punk rock, gospel and reggae. He blends his jazz background with hip-hop and drum and bass.

Unlike jazz, some of these styles were easier to access in the Twin Cities.

“Funk was pretty easy because this is a funk town, look at Prince,” he said. “When it comes down to it, this is a bluegrass, funk and blues state.”

Music keeps Washington grounded, he said, in a world that “sucks.” He loves drumming for its frequency, what it does to his body and how it feels spiritually.

“Some, a lot of musicians out here do it for the wrong reason … I did music because I loved it, grew up in it, but it was also a spiritual thing for me and I realized that I’m a modern day griot.”

There have been times he wanted to give it up, he said, but felt he was blessed to receive his gift early in life.

A former Walker West Music Academy piano student, Washington now teaches drums there. Teaching came naturally, he said, because his parents were educators.

“It just happened and then I end up liking it and then realize some of these teachers be teaching the wrong stuff,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t like everybody teaching jazz … I can teach from the source.”

Washington will perform at Berlin in the North Loop every Sunday in April. The program, “Washington Express,” will feature different local artists and styles each week.

On April 5, Washington will perform with students from Walker West Music Academy.

“I’m just doing what these elders did to me growing up,” he said. “Now I’m passing the torch.”

The following Sunday, April 12, will feature Kevin Washington and RA Spirit.

“My original idea was to have a lot of different cultures come together,” he said. “More in the African diaspora and African-Americans coming together, because I do a lot of Western-style music.”

The show will mix modern jazz, rock and world elements with influences from West Africa, East Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil.

Mississippi, a group Washington has played with for 20 years, will perform April 19. The set will consist of all original songs, most written by him.

“Most of my music is original songs that I wrote. If I do a cover, you won’t recognize it until you hear the lyrics.”

On the last Sunday of April, Washington will perform with DK-Sol.

Washington’s main goal when performing is to make listeners feel good.

“I am your drug,” he said. “I am your intoxication in a positive way. You don’t need heroin, you don’t need crack … just listen to my music.”

“Everybody’s going through something. I just want to make people feel right and godly at least for two, three, four hours, and go home with that on their brain.”

To learn more about Washington’s performances, visit https://www.berlinmpls.com/calendar.

To keep up with Washington, follow him at Kevin E. Washington on Facebook and Kevin.e.washington on Instagram.

Damenica Ellis is the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s staff writer and On The Radar host. To submit a nomination for On The Radar, visit https://spokesman-recorder.com/on-the-radar-nominations/.