MUSICIAN BIO

Kauflin, deeply kind and humbled by the praise and caliber of musicians in his orbit is -- as he puts it -- 'just a simple guy'  -DownBeat Magazine

Justin Kauflin is an award-winning “jazz pianist who favors a clarity of touch and ideas...his writing is balanced tempering post-bop intricacies with the assurances of the gospel church” -New York Times.  As leader, player, composer, and producer, Justin Kauflin has released 10 recordings to date and collaborated on 30+ albums.  In 2015, Justin had the incredible honor of performing on Oscar Peterson's personal Bosendorfer for Oscar, with Love, along with 16 world-class pianists and performing with the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet in Canada a decade later.  In 2024 Justin released his first vinyl live recording, "Justin Kauflin Trio Live at Sam First." 

For 10 years, Justin has worked and toured under the management of Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones Productions. In addition to performing with his own trio or solo, Kauflin has worked with The Clark Terry Quintet, The Clayton Brothers Quintet, Katie Thiroux Trio, Brian McCarthy Nonet, Songevity, Jae Sinnett Trio, multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, duo pianos with John Toomey, Jeremy Siskind, Robi Botos, Alfredo Rodriguez, bassists Thomas Fonnesbaek, Derrick Hodge, Chris Funn, Dave Robaire, Chris Smith, Evan Gregor, Phil Kuehn, Michael Hawkins, Mike Downes, Rob Duguay, Matt Hall, Jimmy Masters, Chris Brydge, saxophonists Roxy Coss, Tim Green, Stantawn Kendrick, Steve Wilson, Brian McCarthy, James 'Saxsmo' Gates, Ken Peplowski, Eddie Williams, Jeff Smith, guitarists Chico Pinheiro, Matt Stevens, Alan Parker, Ulf Wakenius, Etan Haziza, drummers Jimmy MacBride, Billy Williams, Corey Fonville, Christian Euman, Mark Ferber, Cornelia Nilsson, Jim Doxas, Al Hicks, Nadav Snir-Zelniker, and vocalists Sahra Da Silva, Paul Marinaro, Liz Brydge, Sheila Jordan,  Rene Marie, Christie Dashiell.  Having performed at jazz festivals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Rep. of Georgia, France, Austria, Poland, Croatia, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, UK, Italy, Latvia, and Switzerland, Kauflin often incorporated workshops for students.  

During the pandemic, Justin adapted by producing live-streamed concerts and "Hangs," Wednesday Nights, Sunday Hymns & Things,  Christmas Marathons and JK's Playground on his YouTube channel.  In addition, he composed original soundtracks for several impactful documentaries including Reflection: A Walk with Water  with multi-Grammy winner, Jacob Collier, My Sister Liv, the trailer for Quincy Jones' book 12 Notes on Life and Creativity and Nespresso ads. He contributed to the Nickelodeon movie Blue's Big City Adventure and the documentary Full Circle scored by Emmy-nominated Mark Crawford (The Social Dilemma).  Justin is featured in, as well as composed the film score for, the Academy Award short-listed documentary, Keep On Keepin' On, which honors his mentor, the late legendary jazz trumpet/flugelhorn player, Clark Terry, directed and produced by the award-winning team of Alan Hicks, Paula Dupre Pesman, and Quincy Jones.

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Through the Keep On Keepin' On Jazz Outreach, Justin promotes jazz education with screenings, Q&A sessions, jazz workshops and student jams, culminating in a concert.  He has been an adjunct faculty member/adjudicator for the Monterey Jazz Festival, Centrum Port Townsend Jazz, Vail Jazz Workshop, Lionel Hampton Jazz and Notre Dame Jazz, Jazz Maui with John Clayton and Katie Thiroux, and has served as a Jazz Ambassador with the U.S. State Department in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Latvia and the Rep. of Georgia.  Since 2022, he has been on the jazz faculty at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia, where he fosters young talent, and curates GSA Jazz Nights which features prominent regional jazz musicians, at no cost.  Justin continues to tour and is a Yamaha Artist.​​​