Jahari Stampley: The Best Version of Himself

Winner of the Chicagoan of the Year Award in Jazz in 2023, Jahari Stampley is a local legend and a star on the rise. Stampley won first place in the Herbie Hancock Institute International Competition in 2023, as well as the Chicago Youth Symphony Alumni Award, the first non-classical musician to receive the honor. He was also awarded the 2023 Luminarts Fellowship for his debut album “ Still Listening.”  Jahari describes his musical journey in an interview with Guarneri Hall Operations Manager Tanya Landau, in preparation for his appearance at the inaugural Jazz@GH event with his mother, D-Erania Stampley.

Tanya Landau: Talk to me about your journey with the piano, why the piano, and how did you discover your ability to mix musical styles? 

Jahari Stampley: Well, my mother is actually Grammy-nominated, and she started doing music before I was born. And so what I loved about my parents was that they never forced me to do music, and I never grew a hate for it. They allowed me to kind of follow my own path and choose what I wanted to do. When I chose music, I chose it because I really loved it. I think that was a big part of my journey, is just really loving music. And so, growing up, when I started playing, I would practice so many hours, like countless, because I just loved it. 

TL: Super cool! And when did you start trying beatboxing with the piano in your compositions? I love this. So I’m curious: when did you try doing that the first time, and what was it like?

JS: Well, me and my mother, geez, I remember when we were first starting out on our tours, just figuring out our set list and how we want to play together; I realized that my mother is really not normal, like she just learns things quickly. She can play any instrument you give her. And so I asked her, “Mom, do you think you could play bass?” And she said: “Yeah, I’ll try.” And so [although] she’s primarily a saxophonist, she also plays organ and piano. Amazing, all 12 keys, everything. And so I asked her, I said, if you could learn the bass, then me and you could play together and trade off while I’m playing bass with my feet, with the pedals. Maybe you could play saxophone, and then if I want to play piano solos or synth, you could play the bass, and maybe if we don’t have a drummer, then I could be the drummer. And so we talked about it extensively, and we kind of came up with our own configuration, of her playing all these instruments and me basically being like a drummer with the piano and the synth and the key bass with my feet, and we’ve arranged these compositions to kind of flow in a way that feels like a full band, but it’s just the two of us. So it just started with a conversation and it evolved, and it’s still evolving. Each show, we keep learning new things about what we can do together. It’s just so unreal. It’s just, it’s, it’s just amazing. 

TL: Yeah, I mean, that’s amazing. Getting to collaborate so closely with your family, with somebody who is such a big part of your life, and getting to make music together. That’s really incredible. 

JS: Yeah, I’m still just, I can’t believe that we’re doing this. It literally, we didn’t expect to ever do something like this. It just started as a conversation, and then we tried it, and it just became what it is. And it’s just, I still can’t believe it. 

TL: Oh, that’s awesome. I can’t wait to hear it live. I’m really looking forward to it! 

JS: Oh my goodness. We’re so excited to come and we’re thankful for just all these amazing opportunities. So grateful, awesome. 

TL: So I’m curious too, who were some of your earliest musical influences, or, like big musical influences in your life?

JS: You know, I’ve always listened to a lot of music. I would say, obviously my mother is an enormous influence. But I think surprisingly, there’s a pianist that I saw on YouTube. He was the first pianist I ever saw that really inspired me, because he looked like me. He was black, he had glasses. His name was P Miller, and he used to do these classical renditions of pop songs and me being like, just a regular teenager, like I never really was into jazz, like I didn’t understand jazz, but the way he played, he would do these renditions that were incredible, of pop songs where he’s just playing arpeggios and all these things in classical ways. And I, when I first started playing the piano, I watched his videos, and I used to mimic him as I was playing buttons on the piano. And I would, I would mimic like a video game, almost like I’m playing the same buttons, the same finger combinations, same patterns as him. I’m mimicking his posture, everything until I got it exactly like, exactly like him. And I only felt inspired to do it because he looked like me. And I thought to myself, like, wow, we look just alike, like I could do that too. I never knew that someone that looked like me could play like that. And so that was my first moment where I realized that I could do it, if I just tried, if I practiced. And six months later, I think it took me about six months, I managed to play top to bottom, just all of this incredible stuff. I didn’t realize what I was doing, but I managed to learn his video that I stumbled upon on YouTube and mimicked it, note for note. 

TL: I mean, that just really drives home the importance of representation in the musical community. And hearing your story, it’s just wonderful to hear. It’s so important that you are represented in the community, so that you can inspire other people to also try to create music and to feel seen and to feel represented. That’s really cool. 

JS: Absolutely, you took the words out my mouth, absolutely. 

TL: So, when you look at the jazz scene in Chicago or in New York, or other cities you’ve visited, who are some of the folks that you’re inspired by right now?

JS: There’s a person in my life that I remember growing up. He used to come over to the house and play in my mother’s band. He’s such an incredible figure in the community of Chicago. He’s just phenomenal. His name is Tony Cazeau. Tony Cazeau is just such an amazing person in the community of Chicago, for people, young black people, especially in different parts of the south and west side. He’s opened my mind musically, and he’s so articulate and so well spoken, so well mannered and just wise and just a brilliant person. Tony Cazeau, he, I don’t even know how I could ever thank his influence. But he, you know, he’s like a brother to my mother. And he is an incredible pianist. His cousin is Robert Irving, the third, who toured with Miles Davis. So Tony, you know, he’s super vast in his knowledge of music, and he was one of the people that opened my mind to other styles of music, outside of just church, traditional church music: a lot of black musicians find themselves kind of stuck in the church, just playing in church. Tony was different in the sense that he introduced me to other styles of music outside of just traditional church music, like he introduced me to classical music that I’ve never heard, like he introduced me to jazz artists like Gonzalo Rubalcaba, people from Cuba, people from Korea, people that I would have never, ever heard of. So I’m sorry I rave about Tony. Tony is, oh my goodness, he’s like an uncle to all, not just me, but just to the city of Chicago, I think.

TL: That’s awesome, it’s really nice when you have someone like that in your life who can really mentor you and introduce you to all these things and support you from the beginning. 

JS: Oh, I’m so thankful that just Chicago, to be from Chicago is a blessing. So I’m thankful. 

TL: Have you played with him? Like, have you guys played together? 

JS: Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, what’s funny is he once told me when we last played, he said, wow, everything I play, you play exactly what I would play. It’s almost as if I can know what he’s going to play before he plays it. That’s just how much I’ve been influenced by Tony. And starting at such a late stage in my life, I started at the age of 14, but I remember when I came around, I didn’t know anything about music. I didn’t really know how to play at all, but I would just be watching him and taking notes, and a couple months later, I would come back, and I would figure it out more and more before I knew it, before he knew it, before anyone knew it, I would just be playing just like him. He was like, wow! I don’t understand how, but I just spent so much time listening to him that I don’t think he even realizes just how much of an influence he’s had on me. I’ve spent so much time just just absorbing his knowledge and just really taking to heart everything and his wisdom. So I feel thankful for his support. 

TL: That’s so cool to hear! So, my last question, I wanted to ask you about your compositions because they seem very much like personal pieces for you, and you’re really taking the audience on a journey. And I’m curious if you could talk to me a little bit about your personal musical storytelling. 

JS: So I would say a lot of it is I tend to try to be connected to the moment. And this is actually something I learned from Robert Irving. I think it’s kind of like life: Life is so unpredictable. Things happen that you may not expect. Day by day, each moment is so unpredictable. So the ability to adapt, we’re always adapting to changes that are happening in our lives. So even in a musical setting, if I hear something, or if I feel something in that moment, I’m reacting to what happens, or what’s feeling right in the moment. And even when I’m looking at the crowd, I notice what will catch their attention. It’s, very interesting. It’s almost like it’s something that I don’t know if it can fully be explained, but I think at least the way I approach it is I try to just find and follow what I feel and trust in what I feel more than anything.

Robert Irving taught me that you can’t be someone else as much as you want to be; as much as you copy them, you can only be yourself. So the best thing you could do is be the best version of yourself, even if it’s not for everyone you know. So I think that’s kind of what I think about when I’m telling a story. It’s really me trying to stay true to myself and tell what feels right for me, even if it’s not accepted by everyone. You know, I can only be myself. 

TL: Oh, that’s beautiful, absolutely, yeah. Well, thank you so much for your time and for being here and chatting with me a little bit. 

JS: Yes, thank you for having me. We’re so excited about this event. Thank you! 

Jahari Stampley will perform two sets with his mother, Grammy-nominated D-Erania Stampley, for the inaugural Jazz@GH on October 8, 2024.