Jazz, R&B, Rock and Soul music have been around for generations and captured the love of audiences all over the world. New Yamaha artist, Tommy King, has combined these four music genres into his own unique sound and at 19 years old, he prepares to charm and capture the attention of the next generation.
Besides great music, what do Jazz, R&B, Rock and Soul have in common? They are all mixed and played expertly by King on his Yamaha MOTIF keyboard. Even though he is a young and relatively new artist, King has already found an audience and success.
King is currently on tour with Warner Bros. recording artist, Renee Olstead, but he first discovered his talent for the piano/keyboard as a young high school student.
"Two or three times a week I would come home from school, get something to eat, and find a way to get to the Watts area of LA," said King, "There I would rehearse with the LA Multi-School Jazz Band… "This gave me the opportunity to meet and learn from many of the world's legendary musicians such as, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, Billy Higgins Ernie Andrews and Russ Ferante. Eventually I developed a solid foundation in Jazz and R&B, as well as an understanding of who I was as a player."
King also performed in numerous Jazz festivals before graduating from high school and in popular Hollywood clubs such as "The House of Blues" and "Roxy." Grammy-winning producer, David Foster quickly discovered King's talent as a piano player/keyboardist and noticed King's crowd-winning charisma.
Foster enlisted King's talents for Renee Olstead in her music videos. After the music videos were shot, King was asked to join Olstead's band permanently. King and Olstead's band have performed and appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Summer Pops Festival in Liverpool, England, and on NBC's Today Show.
King continues to tour with Olstead's band and create new music on his Yamaha MOTIF keyboard.
