Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
Box 870370
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
205-348-6644

© 2026 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Want to support APR? Become a monthly contributing listener during our Spring Pledge Drive. Click for more info!

Flea returns to his first love, jazz

Gus Van Sant

You probably know Flea as the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (or his numerous side projects and collaborations, not to mention his roles in movies and TV going back to the early 1980s). But did you know jazz was his first love?

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a jazz trumpet player. I wanted to be Dizzy Gillespie," he tells Christian McBride. In this conversation, Flea traces his musical path from bebop sessions in his stepfather's living room to a chance encounter with Dizzy backstage at UCLA, and eventually back to the trumpet decades later, with his debut solo album, Honora.

Credits:

Host: Christian McBride; Writers and Producers: Sarah Geledi and Simon Rentner; Mastering: Ron Scalzo; Executive Producer: Steven A. Williams; Executive Producer at NPR Music: Suraya Mohamed; Executive Director of NPR Music: Sonali Mehta.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Sarah Geledi
Sarah Geledi left her job in advertising in Montreal to pursue a career in music in New York City. She fulfilled that mission, producing content for the JAM Festival at WBGO, segments for The Checkout, and programs for WWOZ and PRI's Afropop Worldwide. She also served as a producer for NYC Winter Jazzfest before landing the "job of her dreams," producing radio for Jazz Night in America.
Simon Rentner
News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.