When singer and alto saxophonist Ashanti of Oaktown Jazz Workshops thinks of Jazz, history and ancestry quickly come to mind. “I feel like a stronger person and a smarter person for knowing those things and connecting with them,” says the Skyline High School junior.
Raised in Oakland, California, Ashanti feels she has always had music in her heart, and from the stories her parents tell her, she’s always been singing. Some of her first performances were through her roles in school plays and singing with her church choir.
In the 3rd grade she started playing recorder at Piedmont Elementary and then moved to the clarinet the following year. By 5th grade she was playing the alto saxophone and continued as a saxophonist through 8th grade at Edna Brewer Middle School.
Toward the end of her 8th grade year she found out about Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ year round program for young musicians. “I was crying because I was going into 9th grade and that means that I would lose my instrument because it was not mine, it was the schools. Then Mr. Pitt-Smith started talking about this guy named Ravi and I was like, ‘who’s Ravi and what does he do?’ and that’s how it all started.”
Ashanti’s performances with Oaktown Jazz Workshops display her wide range of musical tastes as she goes from taking a modern jazz sax solo with the ensemble on one tune to stepping out front as the featured singer on the swing era classic “Take the A Train.”
“I truly listen to everything. If you go through my Pandora playlist it’s like Bhangra to Jay Z to Herbie Hancock.”
When asked what her plans are after high school, Ashanti replies, “Whatever I’m doing, it has to be musical.”
Check out this video of Ashanti singing at OJW’s 20th Anniversary Concert!