Jaime Hinckson (born Jaime Andrew Hinckson on June 4, 1988) is a

Jamaican American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican comm ...

jazz

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who produces

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and R&B music. Hinckson's unique

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

style draws from traditions of jazz along with his strong Caribbean heritage. His musical influences include

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...

, and his childhood jazz piano instructor Leslie Butler (musician).

Early years

Jaime Hinckson was born on June 4, 1988, in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Hinckson began playing classical piano at the age of seven studying music with Joan McMorris, the inspiration for his first album and the woman he credits for encouraging him to pursue music. At the age of 12, Hinckson began playing contemporary jazz with instructor Leslie Butler, a prodigious pianist out of Jamaica. Much of Hinckson's style was developed during his time studying jazz piano. As a sophomore in high school at age 14, Hinckson was a national winner of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

ACT-SO The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), informally named the "Olympics of the Mind," is a youth program of the NAACP that is "designed to recruit, stimulate, improve and encourage high academic and cultural ach ...

competition performing as a solo pianist. In 2006, Hinckson went on to perform at the Air

Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival The Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, formerly known as the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, was created to encourage visitors to come to Jamaica during a traditionally slow tourism period for the island. The original owner of the festival, Air ...

Montego Bay, Jamaica Montego Bay () is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, home t ...

alongside well-known artists including

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

and

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

Career

Hinckson's self-produced debut album, ''Take Flight'', was released on September 7, 2013. The record consists of nine studio recorded instrumental covers of popular songs from

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

and

Toots and the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

as well as his original composition, “Miss Mac,” named after his childhood music instructor and mentor Joan McMorris. The album made its radio debut on local Miami stations

WDNA WDNA is the callsign of a class C2 listener supported public radio station operating on 88.9 MHz in Miami, Florida, licensed in 1977 by the FCC to the Bascomb Memorial Broadcasting Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. WDNA is the marke ...

88.9 FM and The Biz 880 AM. Hinckson also recorded a remix of “Miss Mac,” at

Tuff Gong Tuff Gong is the brand name associated with a number of businesses started by Bob Marley and the Marley family. 'Tuff Gong' comes from Marley's nickname, which was in turn an echo of that given to founder of the Rastafari movement, Leonard "T ...

Studios in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

in 2013. In 2014, he toured around the U.S. performing with U.K. reggae artist,

Hollie Cook Hollie Cook (born 1987, West London, England) is an English singer and keyboardist. She was part of the final line-up of all-female punk/reggae band the Slits. From 2010, Cook has also had a career as solo artist working with producer and songw ...

, including live performances on 90.3

KEXP-FM KEXP-FM (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Center, and the transmitter is in the city's Capi ...

Seattle Radio, Sirius

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...

and AtGoogleTalks. Throughout 2015, he performed at several iconic venues including

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...

on Sunset,

The Troubadour (Los Angeles) The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, United States, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills. Inspired by a visit to the newly opened Troubadour café in London, ...

Wiltern Theater The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad i ...

and

Greek Theatre (Los Angeles) Greek Theatre is an amphitheatre and performance venue located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, which has been hosting various live performances and music concerts since its opening in the early 1930s. Today, the theatre is owned by ...

where he opened for

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

. Shortly thereafter, Hinckson released three reggae jazz piano singles, "Sun Daze", "Care Less" and "Nostalgia". Hinckson is best known for his role as keyboardist and musical director in son of

Julian Marley Julian Ricardo Marley (born 4 June 1975) is a British-Jamaican reggae musician, songwriter, producer and humanitarian. He is the son of reggae music icon Bob Marley, and Lucy Pounder. In 2024, he received a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album f ...

's band, The Uprising. He continues to tour with The Uprising but has worked with other reggae artists, including

The Wailing Souls The Wailing Souls (originally The Renegades) are a Jamaican reggae vocal group whose origins date back to the 1960s. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years with Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald the only ...

The Wailers Band The Wailers Band is a Jamaican reggae band formed by former members of Bob Marley and the Wailers after Marley's death in 1981. It was led by bassist Aston "Familyman" Barrett until 2016, when he passed the role onto his son, Aston Barrett J ...

, Hempress Sativa, and

Jesse Royal (musician) Jesse David Royal (born 29 April 1989) is a Jamaican reggae musician. Early life Jesse Royal (Jesse David Leroi Grey) was born in St James Parish, Jamaica to a family of Maroon ancestry and Rasta faith. The Royal family relocated to Kingsto ...

. In 2016, Hinckson began experimenting with hip hop jazz instrumental music with the release of his debut single, entitled "Push". Continuing within this genre, he released another hip hop jazz single, "Osmosis", in 2018. Hinckson released his second album, ''Take Time''—a 13-track collection inspired by hip hop musicians such as

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

and

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

in July 2020. Continuing to record through 2022, the Miami-based artist released his latest project, ''Fresh Produce'', in tandem with an assortment of international remixes distributed on his very own label, Miss Mac Music."Jaime Hinckson bringing ‘Fresh Produce’ to the reggae and jazz scene.”
Jamaica Gleaner. September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.

Discography

Albums

*''Take Flight'' (2013) *''Take Time'' (2020) *''Fresh Produce'' (2022)

Singles

*"Sun Daze" (2015) *"Care Less" (2015) *"Nostalgia" (2015) *"Push" (2016) *"Osmosis" (2018)

References

External links

Official Jaime Hinckson website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinckson, Jaime 1988 births Living people American musicians of Jamaican descent American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American jazz composers American male jazz composers Jamaican jazz pianists American reggae musicians Jamaican pianists Musicians from Miami 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians