James Francies at SJZ Break Room

Plenty of young musicians show promise, but very few enjoy the sort of meteoric rise that pianist, keyboardist and composer James Francies is currently experiencing. At 28, with his extraordinary debut album Flight on storied Blue Note Records under his belt, James brings together his jazz mastery with pop, hip-hop and R&B. Called "a pianist with liquid dynamism in his touch" by The New York Times, Francies started on piano around age 4 and came up in Houston's prestigious High School of the Arts, an incubator of other era-defining jazz talent like Robert Glasper and Jason Moran. Blessed with perfect pitch and synesthesia (or the ability to hear in colors), he counts among his influences pianists like Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum; guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Mike Moreno; and such trumpet masters as Nicholas Payton and Freddie Hubbard...

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Plenty of young musicians show promise, but very few enjoy the sort of meteoric rise that pianist, keyboardist and composer James Francies is currently experiencing. At 28, with his extraordinary debut album Flight on storied Blue Note Records under his belt, James brings together his jazz mastery with pop, hip-hop and R&B. Called "a pianist with liquid dynamism in his touch" by The New York Times, Francies started on piano around age 4 and came up in Houston's prestigious High School of the Arts, an incubator of other era-defining jazz talent like Robert Glasper and Jason Moran. Blessed with perfect pitch and synesthesia (or the ability to hear in colors), he counts among his influences pianists like Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum; guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Mike Moreno; and such trumpet masters as Nicholas Payton and Freddie Hubbard. He's played with jazz headliners like Pat Metheny, Chris Potter, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Stefon Harris, Eric Harland and Terrace Martin, and racked up equally impressive credits in hip-hop and R&B including shows with Ms. Lauryn Hill, José James, Common and Drake, plus appearances with The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside his mentor and friend Questlove. Following his smash debut album Flight, James' most recent album Purest Form accesses intimate chambers of his artistry, interpreting love, grief, frailty, and fortitude. Consisting mostly of originals, the album garnered four stars on DownBeat which said of the artist: "the pianist doesn't so much compose music as conjure fascinating nebulae of sound."

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