Keyboard control

Abebi Stafford launches a career in jazz

Ever taken a job placement test? It’s a questionnaire designed to help a person decide what type of career would best fit his or her individual characteristics, interests and skills.

Consider, hypothetically, that your test results indicated that you need a sense of control in your work; appreciate seeing tangible, cause-and-effect results of your efforts; and enjoy mental challenges in your employment, akin to solving puzzles. What job would best suit you?

If you’re Abebi Stafford, the answer would be jazz pianist.

Stafford, 23, a Minnesota native, moved to Lawrenceville last September, not long after graduating from Rice University in Houston with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. His objective, degree notwithstanding, is to launch a music career in Atlanta.

He’s already finding steady work as a solo pianist, performing weekly during Sunday brunch at Garrison’s, a Duluth steakhouse, and appearing frequently at Melting Pot locations in Duluth and Atlanta and at Killer Creek in Roswell. He has also performed at Sambuca Jazz Café, Sweet Melissa’s and other venues. Stafford released his first CD, Mr. B, in March.

Chemical engineering and jazz piano rarely are mentioned in the same sentence. But when Stafford’s academic demands became overwhelming, he turned to piano as a stress relief and creative escape. It only heightened an involvement in music that began at age 9 with classical piano studies and continued after he made a commitment to jazz in high school.

“That’s something I’ve done ever since I was young — something that I liked to do and have control of,” Stafford says. “When I practiced, I could hear myself getting better. I like things that have a direct result attached to them, like learning a language that you can use right away. Piano was that for me.”

When he began playing, Stafford says, the appeal of music was similar to that of working puzzles.

“I’ve always liked puzzles — that they become this overall thing, this painting,” he says. “That’s the same thing that led me to music. You put these notes together and get an overall picture of something that’s nice to look at or hear or admire after you’ve put all these elements into it.”

As Stafford’s college curriculum progressed, however, the picture he saw unfolding before him was not one he liked, and he discovered that piano meant even more to him than he had realized.

“I felt I wasn’t doing what I was made to do in life,” Stafford says. “I wasn’t happy with where I was and what I was doing. I didn’t like what I was starting to become.”

Stafford says he assessed what things were going right for him and “most of those were things that I had direct control over, and piano was one of those things.”

Control is a key for Stafford, and he finds it as a solo pianist, both in the actual performance and in the logistics of bookings, rehearsals and the like.

Stafford’s live repertoire, as reflected on his CD, includes a healthy dose of standards, among them George Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day,” Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day” and Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are,” as well as some originals. His approach reflects the influence of Bill Evans, Cedar Walton, Wynton Kelly, Keith Jarrett and others.

Stafford’s passion for jazz coincided with his classical studies as a youth. “I was amazed by jazz and how it sounded, the complexity. It was always something I wanted to do,” he says.

He switched from classical to jazz around his junior year in high school, with dubious initial results and much to his mother’s chagrin. “She said, ‘You sound terrible. Where’d your skills go?’” Stafford recalls. “I told her I was learning jazz, and she said, ‘You’re not good at jazz, you’re good at classical.’ I said, ‘Let me work it out. I’ll be good at it.’ So ... I’ve worked it out.”

Abebi Stafford performs Sunday noon-3 p.m. at Garrison’s, 9700 Medlock Bridge Road, Duluth. For more information, call 770-476-1962. For information on Stafford’s CD, visit www.nixon-music.com.

This column is a weekly feature covering music outside the Perimeter. E-mail or mail “outside” music news to Bryan Powell, 830 Josh Lane, Lawrenceville, GA 30045.??