Presented by KNKX. Winner of the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute International competition and awarded the 2023 Luminarts Fellowship, Jahari Stampley is emerging as a modern innovator in the jazz piano world. Having played many of the world’s most prestigious venues before the age of 22, in a few short years, Jahari is recognized as a prolific pianist, composer, producer, and educator.
He began playing piano at the age of 14 and quickly swept through the music world with his unique ability to create fresh tapestries of sound, winning many competitions, performing solo concerts internationally, and touring with renowned artists such as Stanley Clarke, Derrick Hodge, and Keyon Harrold, among many others.
“Chicago-based pianist Jahari Stampley is a definite prodigy.… Stampley's simultaneously effervescent and melancholic chords hint at times at folk and at other country influences while remaining steeped in the blues. His layered pianism captivates and mesmerizes with its subtlety. There are no unnecessary pyrotechnics here, just quiet introspection." - Hrayr Attarian (2023), All About Jazz
Critic Giovanni Russonello wrote "…with his tall, wiry frame hunched over the piano, [Stampley's] style arrived like a lightning bolt...His playing felt unforced, as if powered from an internal engine. This was an artist you wanted to hear again, and to know more about."
Jahari will be joined by D-Erania Stampley (saxophone, bass and synthesizer), the mother of the talented pianist, Jahari Stampley, a Grammy-nominated musician from Chicago who also runs a music school. The 59th Grammy Awards Committee recognized D-Erania's Language of the Heart CD for seven ballot categories. Langage of the Heart successfully balances accessibility and imagination. D-Erania has created a work that has wide appeal without sacrificing originality, one with plenty of inspired artistry that is solidly mainstream. This record is a portent of a brilliant career for this promising and talented musician." - Chicago Jazz Magazine
On drums, 21-year old Miguel Russell, from South Florida originally born in the Bronx NYC, started playing drums when he was 2 years old, when his father taught him how to play. At age 4 he was enrolled in the Harlem School of the Arts, studying under mentor and master drummer, Baba Donald Eaton. He would go on to play with legends such as Wynton Marsalis, Nestor Torres, Paquito D' Rivera, Pedro Martinez, Candido Camero, Stefon Harris, Stacey Dillard, Dayna Stephens, and more.