Questlove and The Balvenie Reunite for ‘Quest for Craft’ Season 3 Featuring Lena Waithe, Fred Armisen and More
Questlove and The Balvenie have returned with four new installments of “Quest for Craft” — a web series hosted by the Academy Award-winning documentarian and musician. In each episode, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson sits down with some of his favorite creative minds, learning about what drives and inspires them.
“The Balvenie and I embarked on Season 3 of ‘Quest for Craft’ in the pursuit of not only incredible guests, but also topics of conversation we hadn’t gotten to before: how connection, commitment, individual voices and even happiness influence creators,” Questlove told WWD.
More from WWD
Questlove Curates Lunch and Busy Phillips Rages at Town & Country Philanthropy Summit
Violinist Ezinma Is Building a Bridge Between Classical and Hip-Hop
Harry Jowsey Talks 'Dancing With the Stars,' Personal Style and Returning to Reality Television
After chatting with musical, comedic and literary greats like Patti Smith, Michael Che and Fran Leibowitz, Questlove decided upon four groundbreaking guests who satiate his creative curiosity: Anderson .Paak, Yo-Yo Ma, Fred Armisen and Lena Waithe.
“All the guests on this season are people I know in real life and have long admired. [Ma, Armisen, Waithe and Anderson .Paak] are some of the best at doing what they do, and I wanted to get a firsthand glimpse into their work and the stories behind their craft,” said Questlove. “You can only hear these things from the source.”
For example, Waithe, the Emmy-winning screenwriter behind “Master of None” and “The Chi,” elaborates on the sources of inspiration behind her characters, while legendary cellist Ma walks Questlove through his decades-long process of perfecting a musical piece.
“Quest for Craft” is filmed at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Legendary artists including David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and Jay-Z have all graced the iconic recording studio, which was commissioned by Jimi Hendrix in 1968.
For Questlove, his web series’ setting serves as more than a backdrop. “Electric Lady has been a character in the show, almost as important as me or the guests,” he said. “I have worked here and so have so many amazing artists, and everyone can feel the energy of the place. If this show can add to that even a little bit, I’ll feel like I have given something back to it.”
All four episodes of “Quest for Craft” Season 3 are available now on YouTube.
Best of WWD
