We all have those things that we're going to get around to learning one day, like knitting or Spanish or karate.
For Flea, it was the trumpet. He first picked it up as a child before putting it down for a bass guitar, an instrument that would serve him well for decades with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But all along, Flea was obsessed with jazz. His debut solo album, Honora, is the result of a decades-long promise and years of practice. Today, we're going deep with Flea, from growing up in New York in a jazz-filled household to taking lessons from saxophonist Rickey Washington — Kamasi Washington's dad — plus the opportunity to work with one of his musical heroes, who very famously made fun of his band: Nick Cave.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
Copyright 2026 XPN