Abebi Stafford

Born in St. Paul Minnesota, Abebi Stafford began learning piano at age 9 and began composing at age 10. Playing Chopin, Gershwin and Grieg, he won several classical music competitions in grade school, middle school and high school. Nonetheless, he was drawn to jazz piano and began to teach himself his last year in high school and in college. Inspired by the musicianship of Keith Jarrett, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea to name a few, he honed his skills throughout college. In 1998, He won his first professional gig on impulse when he auditioned for the owner of Ovations jazz club in Houston.
After receiving his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Houston’s prestigious Rice University in 2000, the 22 year-old went right to work on his debut album “Mr. B” which he recorded in Atlanta a few months later. His first album dropped in April of 2001 and he briefly returned to Minnesota to headline at the Dakota Bar and Grill on September 11th 2001. 
The summer of 2002 he appeared on the main stage at the Atlanta Jazz Festival where he dazzled an audience of several thousand with his solo piano magic. Abbey Lincoln and Roy Hanes with Kenny Garrett, John Pattitucci, Dave Kikoski and Nicholas Payton followed his performance. Later that summer he played in the Minneapolis Hot Summer Jazz Festival with his Twin Cities trio; later he discovered from the festival’s producer that pianist Monty Alexander heard and loved his performance. Abebi also appeared in a couple of morning shows and television spots on the festival’s behalf. 
Recently, Abebi has released his 2nd album, Luminous Flux, in November of 2004. Shortly thereafter in December, opening for Lonnie Liston Smith at the Rialto Performing Arts Center, he was named the Atlanta Future of Jazz Competition winner after performing in the with his new Bayorhythm group featuring drums and sax.
Having a broad range of musical experiences, he has also played with Russell Malone, accompanied vocalist Deborah Brown, given Kenny Garrett a piano lesson, and has even been solicited by Atlanta based Outkast for his musical expertise on several occasions.
“Even his name swings!” pianist, Kenny Werner, said of Stafford to friends after hearing his solo piano work and meeting him for the first time. Vibraphonist, Stefon Harris said to Abebi, ”I really enjoyed your playing.” Saxophonist Joel Frahm (Jane Monheit) said after playing with Abebi, “I haven’t heard many pianist with his strong sense of time and to me, that’s the most important thing.”