PREVIOUS GUESTS

Eli Yamin

Eli Yamin. When Eli Yamin heard Thelonious Monk he decided to become a jazz musician. With a strong spiritual foundation generously bestowed upon him by Bach, Elizabeth Cotten, and Sweet Honey in the Rock mixed with blues by Hendrix, Taj Mahal and B.B. King, Eli started his quest. He was nurtured in the Black community of Newark, New Jersey, where he played many of his first gigs, worked at radio station WBGO, and, at the home of his mentors Amiri and Amina Baraka, became immersed in the Black Arts aesthetic combining music, theatre, dance and spoken word. Drummer Walter Perkins took him under his wing and introduced him to the Black music scene of Queens, where they played blues every night. At 24 he was the musical director for the 10th Anniversary Tour of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies directed by Duke’s granddaughter Mercedes Ellington, who became a lifelong friend and collaborator. Later, he worked in Illinois Jacquet’s Big Band, recorded and toured, studied with Barry Harris, another lifelong mentor, then made five records with baritone saxophonist Claire Daly, whose album Swing Low is on display in the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. 10 tours as a jazz and blues ambassador allowed Yamin to see the world and experience how jazz and blues unites east and west. More recordings were forthcoming, You Can’t Buy Swing, named for a saying by his dear mentor Perkins, I Feel So Glad, after a Texas blues song, Louie’s Dream, after an obscure Louis Armstrong track, and his most recent, Squeeze In Tight, jazz and blues for solidarity, honoring his blues roots and offering music that encourages people to stay connected even in difficult times. In 2026, Yamin was named a Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, and the non-profit he created and continues to run, Jazz Power Initiative, celebrated 22 years of bringing jazz to communities who need it most through performance and education. He’s published three jazz musicals for youth performers, taught over 10,000 kids including Charlie Puth, and 1000 teachers, and authored the book, So You Want to Sing the Blues: A Guide For Performers. Gordon Parks once remarked “He’s the most imaginative pianist I’ve heard in years,” and with a doctorate in music from Stony Brook University, he’s taken on the title, “Dr. E.” A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Dr. E plays the Steinway piano whenever possible and lives in NYC with his wife Lorraine of 30+ years, and daughter Manika. They have a dog, Dr. E’s first.

Pianist, composer, and producer Eli Yamin has dedicated his life to performing, teaching, and building community through jazz. He has performed and toured as a jazz ambassador for the United States in over 25 countries, and at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the White House. A Steinway artist, Eli Yamin has performed with his quartet and blues band as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State in Russia, Guatemala, Montenegro, Mali, India, China, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Albania, and Romania. He has performed at international festivals including The Newport Jazz Festival, The Saratoga Jazz Festival, The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, The St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, The Guatemala Jazz Festival, and in Marciac, Vienne, Nice. Oslo, Prague, Aix En Provence, Lucerne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. Eli appears regularly in NY at Symphony Space, Mezzrow, the Django, Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Yamin’s compositions like “A Healing Song,” about the healing power of the blues, and “Rwandan Child” about the wisdom of children awaken audiences shared sense of humanity, love, and joy. Eli’s jazz musicals for children are performed around the world. His CDs are heard on Sirius XM and WBGO/Jazz 88. He has also written scores for films such as Phil Bertelson’s Around the Time and chamber music, Rickshaw in the Rain for clarinet, viola and piano, by Pia Clava, premiering at Carnegie Hall. Eli, with Clifford Carlson, co-wrote five jazz musicals featuring youth performers, including Message From Saturn about the blues and Nora’s Ark, the jazz musical, about climate and social change, and Holding the Torch for Liberty, about the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement. These three musicals are licensed for performance worldwide and are also available on CD from Jazz Power Initiative.

Eli Yamin co-founded and serves as Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz Power Initiative, a non-profit 501c3 organization that transforms lives through jazz arts education. Eli served as founding Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy for its first ten years and, as training specialist, designed and delivered workshops for artists, teachers, and executives in association with Fordham Graduate School of Business. He continues training artists and teachers through Jazz Power Initiative.

Eli Yamin. When Eli Yamin heard Thelonious Monk he decided to become a jazz musician. With a strong spiritual foundation generously bestowed upon him by Bach, Elizabeth Cotten, and Sweet Honey in the Rock mixed with blues by Hendrix, Taj Mahal and B.B. King, Eli started his quest. He was nurtured in the Black community of Newark, New Jersey, where he played many of his first gigs, worked at radio station WBGO, and, at the home of his mentors Amiri and Amina Baraka, became immersed in the Black Arts aesthetic combining music, theatre, dance and spoken word. Drummer Walter Perkins took him under his wing and introduced him to the Black music scene of Queens, where they played blues every night. At 24 he was the musical director for the 10th Anniversary Tour of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies directed by Duke’s granddaughter Mercedes Ellington, who became a lifelong friend and collaborator. Later, he worked in Illinois Jacquet’s Big Band, recorded and toured, studied with Barry Harris, another lifelong mentor, then made five records with baritone saxophonist Claire Daly, whose album Swing Low is on display in the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. 10 tours as a jazz and blues ambassador allowed Yamin to see the world and experience how jazz and blues unites east and west. More recordings were forthcoming, You Can’t Buy Swing, named for a saying by his dear mentor Perkins, I Feel So Glad, after a Texas blues song, Louie’s Dream, after an obscure Louis Armstrong track, and his most recent, Squeeze In Tight, jazz and blues for solidarity, honoring his blues roots and offering music that encourages people to stay connected even in difficult times. In 2026, Yamin was named a Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, and the non-profit he created and continues to run, Jazz Power Initiative, celebrated 22 years of bringing jazz to communities who need it most through performance and education. He’s published three jazz musicals for youth performers, taught over 10,000 kids including Charlie Puth, and 1000 teachers, and authored the book, So You Want to Sing the Blues: A Guide For Performers. Gordon Parks once remarked “He’s the most imaginative pianist I’ve heard in years,” and with a doctorate in music from Stony Brook University, he’s taken on the title, “Dr. E.” A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Dr. E plays the Steinway piano whenever possible and lives in NYC with his wife Lorraine of 30+ years, and daughter Manika. They have a dog, Dr. E’s first. Pianist, composer, and producer Eli Yamin has dedicated his life to performing, teaching, and building community through jazz. He has performed and toured as a jazz ambassador for the United States in over 25 countries, and at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the White House. A Steinway artist, Eli Yamin has performed with his quartet and blues band as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State in Russia, Guatemala, Montenegro, Mali, India, China, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Albania, and Romania. He has performed at international festivals including The Newport Jazz Festival, The Saratoga Jazz Festival, The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, The St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, The Guatemala Jazz Festival, and in Marciac, Vienne, Nice. Oslo, Prague, Aix En Provence, Lucerne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. Eli appears regularly in NY at Symphony Space, Mezzrow, the Django, Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Yamin’s compositions like “A Healing Song,” about the healing power of the blues, and “Rwandan Child” about the wisdom of children awaken audiences shared sense of humanity, love, and joy. Eli’s jazz musicals for children are performed around the world. His CDs are heard on Sirius XM and WBGO/Jazz 88. He has also written scores for films such as Phil Bertelson’s Around the Time and chamber music, Rickshaw in the Rain for clarinet, viola and piano, by Pia Clava, premiering at Carnegie Hall. Eli, with Clifford Carlson, co-wrote five jazz musicals featuring youth performers, including Message From Saturn about the blues and Nora’s Ark, the jazz musical, about climate and social change, and Holding the Torch for Liberty, about the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement. These three musicals are licensed for performance worldwide and are also available on CD from Jazz Power Initiative. Eli Yamin co-founded and serves as Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz Power Initiative, a non-profit 501c3 organization that transforms lives through jazz arts education. Eli served as founding Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy for its first ten years and, as training specialist, designed and delivered workshops for artists, teachers, and executives in association with Fordham Graduate School of Business. He continues training artists and teachers through Jazz Power Initiative.