AGE: 39

HOMETOWN: Waynesboro, Ga.

OCCUPATION: Pianist, Second Baptist Church, Aiken, and Carey Hill Baptist Church, Clarks Hill, S.C.; the organizer of the Candlelight Jazz concert series; the owner of Garden City Jazz

EDUCATION: Senior communications major, Augusta State University

MUSICAL STYLE: Gospel-infused jazz

PLAYED WITH: QuietSTORM, 1999-2008; after the storm, 2008-present

BEST Concert Attended: Wynton Marsalis, Etherredge Center, University of South Carolina, Aiken, 2005. "It was my favorite concert because I had a hand in pulling the event together, so there's this level of satisfaction from a presenter's point of view as well as from a concert attendee's point of view."

MUSICAL ROOTS: "I started playing (the piano) when I was maybe 3-ish. ... My father taught me for a little while, and then I started taking lessons at 13."

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Iron Chef America

BEST performance: With Wycliffe Gordon, 12 Bands of Christmas Concert, Imperial Theatre, 2007. "It was my brother Wycliffe's gig, and we (the band now called the Nu-Funk Revolution) rehearsed and put together a 20ish-minute show for that. And it was just a lot of fun. It was carefree; we danced around a bit. It was marvelous."

influences: Roberta Flack, Shirley Horn

PRE-SHOW RITUAL: "Just listening to music and just sitting quietly, reflecting, drinking wine."

FAVORITE MOVIES: Crash and Slumdog Millionaire

GOALS: "I would like to do a recording of my favorite jazz standards and maybe one or two original songs that I have yet to write, but I've been inspired. I would like to grow the Candlelight Jazz series -- more attendance, more sponsors, that kind of thing."

FAVORITE ALBUMS: TRAVELIN' LIGHT, Shirley Horn; Digital Works, Ahmad Jamal