Aaron Diehl

Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “The most promising discovery that [Wynton] Marsalis has made since Eric Reed,” Aaron Diehl has been an upcoming force in jazz, dazzling audiences with his brilliant technique, sensitive touch, and interpretations of the music of such great composers as Scott Joplin, Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Art Tatum, and Duke Ellington, among others. Mr. Diehl has performed with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Wessell Anderson, Benny Golson, and Hank Jones. He has released his first CD as a leader entitled “Mozart Jazz,” on Pony Canyon, a major label in Japan. The Japanese television station NHK made a documentary on Mr. Diehl and Jazz at Juilliard, which was broadcast to over 5,000,000 people nationwide. In 2002 he was recognized as one of the outstanding soloists at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Competition. The following year, Wynton Marsalis invited him to tour with his Septet on their summer European tour. Mr. Diehl is the 2004 recipient of the Martin E. Segal award for Jazz at Lincoln Center. He will soon be featured on Marian McPartland’s NPR radio show “Piano Jazz.” Mr. Diehl studies at The Juilliard School under Eric Reed, and Oxana Yablonskaya in the classical division. He is presently the musical director of St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church in Central Harlem.