BIO
Since an early age Jara Ra has always shown a strong talent for music. In middle school Jara composed and arranged an original piece of music for a talent show, then during high school he toured Australia playing trumpet with a youth symphony. Jara has excelled at both the piano and trumpet and offers his unique singing voice to fabulously interpret classic and original songs both as a solo performer and with his popular jazz band Blue Bone Express.
Studying music performance and composition at San Francisco State University, Jara became adept at music notation and arranging, helping to prepare repertoire books for musical outfits Blue Bone Express, Lord Loves A Working Man, and The Carmen Milagro Band, as well as for his own solo project. He has a second college degree in Sound Arts from Ex’pression College for Digital Arts and has gone on to engineer for Bay Area studios Horus Music and Moondog Studios, and regularly involves himself in audio, video, photo, and web production.
Equally at home with jazz, tango, RnB, rock, and techno music, Oakland-based Jara Ra is an excellent asset to any performance project — professional, dependable, creative, and funky. In his solo act, Jara sings as he accompanies himself with his beautiful and compellingly unique piano style drifting from barrelhouse New Orleans to pop ballad and new age folk. Aiming for the core of what jazz music is and where it is from, Jara’s playing fuses this classic, elegant aesthetic with a personal and emotive style that sounds fresh yet timeless. Truly a musical force, being an audience-member for one of Jara Ra’s performances is nothing but a pleasant and entertaining experience.