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Punctuality and Functionality
Keyboardist and composer Patrice Rushen stresses versatility and persistent effort in the annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture.
By Nick Balkin
Berklee.edu Correspondent
May 5, 2004
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Patrice Rushen |
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Photo by Phil Farnsworth |
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Patrice Rushen boasts one of the flashier resumes in contemporary music, but her career philosophy is surprisingly simple: "good old sweat. You have to do the work."
An accomplished pianist, vocalist, arranger/composer, musical director, producer, and educator, it's an understatement to say Rushen has merely done the work. She recently gave the Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture, part of Berklee's Black History Month Celebration, and explained how and why a career like hers doesn't just happen by accident.
Throughout her lecture, Rushen urged aspiring musicians in the audience to reevaluate their goals, asking a number of tough questions, such as "If I don't get what I want out of music, what else do I do?" She listed inspiration, motivation, and perspiration as the three keys to success in music. Above all, she stressed the importance of competition, which is the best way to learn the experience of success. For the passive musician this was, in many ways, a rude awakening.
"Do we have any chronic procrastinators in here?" asked Rushen, who, as a performer or producer, has worked with such artists as Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Prince. "Stop being late. Don't be late for your own thing. Don't be late for what's important to you."
Growing up in Los Angeles, Rushen got an early jump on music, starting piano lessons at the University of Southern California when she was three. She was still a teenager in 1972 when she won a solo competition at the Monterey Jazz Festival, attracting the attention of Prestige Records. She released three jazz-oriented albums on Prestige before signing with Elektra, a business transition that coincided with a musical one, as she added more vocals and refashioned her sound into a radio-friendly combination of jazz, r&b, and funk. To date, she's released 13 records as a leader. Her most well-known tune, "Forget Me Nots," was sampled for Will Smith's "Men in Black," a hugely popular track from the movie of the same title.
Rushen has also succeeded as a film and television composer, having worked on several Emmy-nominated TV movies and series, and her feature film credits include Waiting to Exhale and Hollywood Shuffle.
As her career progressed Rushen became more and more involved in other aspects of music, including producing, arranging, and teaching. "We don't have the luxury to just play anymore," Rushen said during her lecture. "Those days are gone." But she manages to find the time to help others getting started in music, working closely with the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the Grammy in the Schools program, as well as various other organizations dedicated to the development of music education programs for inner city youth.
Rushen has also developed a reputation as a trailblazer for women. She was the first woman to serve as head composer/musical director for the Emmy Awards, and became the first female musical director for several other high-profile awards programs. In addition, as conductor and arranger for CBS's The Midnight Hour, she was the first and only female musical director for a late-night television talk show.
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Before taking questions from students, Patrice Rushen performs a solo instrumental. |
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Photo by Phil Farnsworth |
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When asked to discuss her role as a female leader in a male-dominated industry, Rushen claimed her experience has been largely positive. She said growing up in a mostly male peer group and musical environment helped her develop a good working relationship with her male colleagues.
"I was never treated as one of the boys," Rushen said "But if I could do my part people took care of me."
Since Patrice is often a name for males, film and television producers are frequently surprised to find out they've just hired a female to write the score for their latest action-adventure production. Having to deal with this kind of bias on a regular basis can be disheartening but it appears that Rushen has learned to take it all in stride, deadpanning, "as soon as you do a film about prison riots, then you're cool."
She closed with a reading of Portia Nelson's "Autobiography in Five Chapters," a poem Rushen said she thinks of as a metaphor for her life and philosophies. In the poem, the narrator walks down an unfamiliar street only to fall into a deep hole in the sidewalk. As the story continues, the character falls down the same hole again and again, gaining wisdom from each experience. By chapter five, the narrator has learned to "walk down another street."
To Rushen, however, something was missing from Nelson's ending. Adding her own chapter six, she read: "I return to the old street and, in order to help someone else, I cover that damn hole."
The Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture is the keynote speech of Berklee's annual Black History Month Music Celebration. See links below for information on Carter lectures from recent years.
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