OBM: You started playing classical piano at a very young age. What led you to start playing? 

CS: The musical director of our church was friends with my aunt and my aunt used to watch me from time to time. After hearing me play, The director told my parents to put me in piano lessons at three years old. The first time I performed was around four years old and she lent me her piano to perform. 

OBM: When did you become interested in jazz? 

CS: I always was, I guess. I didn’t really see the difference in jazz and other types of music. When I was studying classical music, my teachers recommended to my parents that I go into jazz studies. At seven years old I had my first jazz studies lesson.  

OBM: What are your influences? 

CS: Herbie Hancock, Chic Corea, George Duke, Joe Sample, Miles Davis these were all musicians that I studied. When I was growing up, I also studied people that were good pianists  like Aretha Franklin. People usually just think of her as a vocalist, but she was a remarkable pianist. At her house, she used to have the pianist Art Tatum, who  influenced jazz music greatly. The modern way of gospel piano, jazz piano, all stems from Art Tatum. He taught Aretha how to play piano. Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, those were the stars that we followed at the time I was coming up.  

OBM: How did you come to join the Monterey Jazz Festival? 

CS: After graduating from the Manhattan School of music, and then joining Inside Straight, I became an artist myself and started performing and travelling and was performing at the festival a number of times. I received a call from Tim Jackson, the head of the Monterey Jazz Festival, and he asked if I wanted to be an artist in residence. There are so many amazing people involved I had to join. He also asked if I would like to be the Musical Director on tour, which involves being the musical director for an all-star band that they put together, which includes vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling and musicians Lakecia Benjamin, Yasushi Nakamura, Clarence Penn and myself.  

OBM: Do you pick the musicians and handle the arrangements? 

CS: I have a hand at deciding who is in the band, and I create, compose and direct the music. When you have these amazing artists the way I like to approach it is that as much as I am writing, I also want to play and create with other members of the band. I ask for their input, and we collaborate on ideas.  

OBM: Do they record any of this and release it? 

CS: They don’t currently, but they should. Even if just to document what was happening in music at that time. Jazz is America’s music, so it would be good to document what is happening with the top musicians in the field together. 

OBM: You were nominated for a Grammy recently, what was that like?  

CS: Be Water came out in 2020 and I was  nominated for a Grammy. This was the first time I was nominated for my own project so that was very special for me. 

OBM: What project do you have coming up? 

CS:  I’m working on a few projects and will be going into the studio to record in the next few months and releasing something hopefully in 2024. My quartet is playing on the Jazz Cruise in early January.  

Tickets for The Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour for Friday, January 20 at 8pm at Disney Hall can be purchased at https://my.laphil.com.  

Photography Credit: RR Jones