Jawanza Kobie
Established
Jazz: Composition
Wilmington
"I would like to give back and share what I have learned, with the intention that it will help others."
Work Samples
About the Artist
Written by Gail Obenreder
From an early age composer Jawanza Kobie was “interested in who wrote and produced the music I heard on the radio and elsewhere.” He grew up in West Philadelphia, in a family where music was all around him. His late older brother had an eclectic interest in different musical genres, and the music he purchased and listened to influenced Kobie. And his father brought home impactful jazz recordings by greats like Oscar Peterson (“my childhood idol”), Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and scores of others.
As a young man, Kobie attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he studied piano, film scoring, and jazz arranging and was mentored by jazz great Grady Tate. He worked as a Philadelphia school teacher for two years and spent the three ensuing decades as an electrician and manager at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). But all during that time, he never lost sight of his goal to “compose and be recognized for being a composer in the truest sense of the word, i.e. jazz, classical, rhythm and blues, funk,” noting that “I just love to be around creative people no matter the genre.”
A resident of Delaware since 1990, in spite of his work schedule Kobie never stopped making music. He traveled and played with singer Billy Paul; composed for film documentaries, local features, theater, television, and educational films; and he recently was recorded playing acoustic piano in Berlin (Germany) with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arktet. That ensemble was started by the late pianist and composer Horace Tapscott, and “it is now a mission of mine to help expose his music to a greater audience.”
Kobie makes music regularly with local colleagues and students, and he’s inspired by “all of the musicians I currently have the honor of playing with.” Influenced early on by those jazz greats, he’s now inspired by “the new music of the new jazz artists” he’s exposed to, like pianist Christian Sands, Pat Metheny, Snarky Puppy, and the late Roy Hargrove.
It’s a challenge for Kobie to find the time to compose without distractions, the “everyday events like house, family, or the official obligations” that hinder the “concentration needed to immerse oneself in being creative.” But he’s rewarded when someone who has just discovered his work (via performance or online) “shares how the music made an impact and made them feel.” And he loves to play with (or learn from) musicians who are “focused and committed to performing the music to the best of their ability.”
As a result of his work with SEPTA (former assistant director, now retired of the Broad Street Line), Kobie is a registered journeyman electrician. He’s also a 1st Degree Shodan in Ai Ki Jiu Jitsu and proud father of two and grandfather.
The composer is “grateful and honored” to receive a Division Fellowship. It’s a recognition for all his efforts “to keep on believing, creating, and sharing my joy for this art.” He plans to record new music to share with the public, as well as promote and perform his work. It’s “especially poignant to be recognized at this time in my life for my musical endeavors,” and Kobie hopes “to do the Delaware Division of the Arts proud in selecting me.”