Malcolm (Javier) S  
Instruments: Piano, Trumpet
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel

Javi is a young, aspiring artist and visionary. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, MN, he grew up surrounded by strong artistic support. Not only was he influenced by his parents, who were jazz musicians, but also he was influenced by his own generation. His music is an eclectic blend of genres including jazz, hip hop, rock, R&B and others.

Javi started playing piano at the age of 5, and was classically trained until he discovered his love of jazz music. In high school, he was a prominent player on the Twin Cities music scene and started his production career making tracks for Twin Cities hip hop artists. He won the Schubert Club Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition two years in a row (’06, ’07). He took the piano chair in the Minnesota Youth Jazz Band (’05-’07) and the Dakota Combo (’07 with Bobby Watson). In 2007, Javier was selected by the great Dave Brubeck and a panel of judges, in an international search, to be a part of the Brubeck Institute Fellowship program in California.

Since then he has played at venues all across the nation and studied with some of the best instrumentalists in the world. The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet (’08-’09) won Best College Group Of the Year in DownBeat Magazine two years in a row (2009 and 2010). Javi received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance in late 2011 at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC. Not only is Javi a virtuosic pianist, but also a producer, composer, arranger and educator as well.