In 2024, Chicago-born pianist Jahari Stampley brought his trio to KNKX. He had just won first prize in the prestigious Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz competition, and he brought a lot of youthful energy, as well as his multi-instrumentalist mom, D-Erania Stampley, who'd just learned to play bass a few months earlier to support him.
"She set the bar so high, and I guess the normal in the house was so abnormal," said the pianist. "I didn't realize how abnormal it was until I started going outside and seeing more people and realizing, dang, my mom is really like abnormal."
At the time of his KNKX visit, Stampley was touring with his debut album, Still Listening, a deeply soulful, spirited collection of tunes that pour out of his fingers like a waterfall. Stampley notes that his mom D-Erania was a real force on the Chicago jazz scene, leading her own bands and playing with the best of the best in the Midwest.
"Everybody would be coming along to the house [and] rehearsing thanks to my mother just being so open-minded," Stampley said.
Stanley's first instrument was the drums. He moved to the piano at age 14, after discovering a be-speckled black pianist, P. Miller, on Youtube. In Miller, Stampley found a role model.
"I used to watch him play the piano like he's playing buttons like a video game. And I would just copy his patterns, his shapes, his fingers, his posture, everything," Stampley said. "I didn't know the notes or the name of the notes. I just knew the buttons, and I would play these buttons from start to finish. I used to observe his videos because he looked just like me. I was like, I could do that."
A gamer and digital native, Stampley's also developed a mobile app called Piano Chronicles. Players can learn about the instrument while battling enemies.
"So whenever you press a piano note, the fire hits the enemy, and then it attacks and you get to the next level. We added all the characters, all the levels, all the boss battles, and now it's a fully functioning piano app that you can use to learn how to identify the notes," he said.
During his 2024 performance, a group of Seattle-area high school jazz musicians were in the studio. One of the teenagers asked Stanley what goals he was setting for himself as a young musician.
"The goal is to keep yourself trying new ideas," he said. "Never get too comfortable. Always take risks. Just keep shooting for the stars.
Last September, Jahari released his second album What A Time, which took risks as it creatively fused jazz, gospel, classical, hip hop and R&B.
