ABOUT THE ARTIST

When I was a fetus, my great-grandmother Ella told my mother, "I'm going to get you a piano, and your first child is going to learn how to play it." I started learning my way around the instrument around 5 years old, and haven't looked back since (save for a short period in middle school when I was too cool to play piano - or too distracted). Constantly seeking out and exploring new musical frontiers, I have played all over America with countless bands and ensembles, setting up residencies in Connecticut, Boston, Vermont, and most recently New Orleans. 

In college I was fortunate enough to study with jazz luminaries Anthony Braxton and Pheeroan akLaff. While in the northeast, I got to share the stage with international reggae artists such as Everton Blender (Jamaica), Shasha Marley (Ghana), Queen Omega (Trinidad), Ajahni (Haiti), Sara Lugo (Germany) and Toussaint the Liberator (USA), often with my band of compatriots known as Buru Style. I also formed and wrote extensively for jazz-rock quartet Jupitang, the Prince-inspired Craig Mitchell and Motor City, and an organ trio known as Studio Chicken, releasing multiple albums under each name. 

Since arriving in New Orleans, I have been busy creating music with brass bands, jazz bands, funk bands, cover bands, country bands, singer-songwriters, afrobeat bands, reggae bands, and hip-hop producers, as well as producing my own music, released as The Gold Standard. Currently, I’m one of the busiest musicians I know, performing 6 or more times each week, most frequently on Frenchmen Street, with various bands such as Gene’s Music Machine (which also hosts a weekly jam session), Margie Perez and her Funky Boy Band, Dysfunktional Bone, Jose Fermin Ceballos y Merengue 4Four, Luscious Duchess, Chris Klein and the Boulevards, Deez Jakes, Suze the Band, and LSD Clownsystem (an all-clown LCD Soundsystem tribute band), along with occasionally sitting in with my friends bands such as Sierra Green and the Soul Machine, Kumasi Afrobeat Ensemble, Moments of Truth Brass Band, or  Zena Moses and the Rue Fiya All-Stars. 

In addition to recording and playing gigs, I also accompany the occasional church service or musical theater production, and am currently working towards my Graduate Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans, where I get to study under masters such as Victor Atkins and Brian Seeger. I also have experience with live sound, record engineering, and I even spent a short time playing cello in a symphony orchestra. 

My favorite food is and always has been pizza.