Pop Talk by George Varga

Classically trained pianist Joshua White is such a quick study that, not long after he attended his third University of California, San Diego Jazz Camp in the summer of 2006, he started performing with some of his Jazz Camp instructors. Never mind that he had never seriously played jazz before and knew very little about the music he soon embraced as his own.

"Joshua's musical talent was very apparent the first year I taught him at the UCSD Jazz Camp, when he was equally proficient on flute and piano," said nationally acclaimed flutist Holly Hofmann.

"But I think he found his voice on the piano, and he's becoming one of the most talented pianists of his generation on piano. He's spent a lot of time observing and learning from the masters that came before him, and using that information to develop his own style and voice."

Masters like saxophone icon John Coltrane, pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Christian McBride, with whom White recorded on singer Karin Carson's recent debut album.

"Coltrane was my first major jazz influence; I devoured his music relentlessly," said White, 24. "I must have listened to his 'Giant Steps' album 100 times, and memorized it, even before I really knew what it was."

But White, a Los Angeles native who moved here with his family when he was 5, already knew lots about the piano and music in general.

He began learning pieces by Mozart, Bach and Chopin when he was 7. By the time he was 10, White was the organist for the children's choir at Encanto Southern Baptist Church. At 12, he became the keyboardist for the church's adult choir as well.

"I played in the jazz band at Granite Hills High School, but it wasn't until the first UCSD Jazz Camp that I found the outlet for creativity I was looking for," said White, who also handles piano duties for his church's Praise Team.

"The teachers were great — Holly, Charles McPherson, Mike Wofford, Anthony Davis, Rob Thorsen, David Borgo — and I soaked up everything at camp, nine hours a day, even though I didn't know who Coltrane or Miles Davis were at the time.

I wasn't familiar with jazz. But I knew chords and could hear musical relationships between things, so I could put it together in my head and follow what they were doing."

That ability to quickly process new information helped White when he and guitarist Tommy Holladay went to New York for a week last summer.

The two went to Big Apple jazz clubs every night to listen and, whenever possible, sit in at jam sessions. One of those jams, at Fat Cat's, was led by jazz trumpet star Roy Hargrove. White, characteristically, managed to stand out despite never having before heard the song Hargrove had the band perform, a midtempo number with a Latin rhythmic feel.

"Roy played through the form of the song once, on piano, and Josh asked Roy to play it through one more time," recalled Holladay, 20, a junior at Boston's Berklee College of Music.

"Then, Josh sat down and played it, impeccably, with a perfect solo. I heard Roy say, under his breath: 'Beautiful!' I know Josh pretty well and consider him to be kind of a genius. But I was still surprised by the fact he did it so flawlessly."

What distinguishes White beyond his ability to think so fast on his feet — make that piano stool — is his maturity and musicality.

"Artists his age tend to overplay," Hofmann noted. "Joshua errs on the side of playing less, until he knows exactly what he wants to play. That's very rare, and amazing, for someone who's only 24."

In addition to performing every Sunday at church, White plays in two San Diego jazz trios, a quartet and a quintet. His musical partners include such top area artists as bassist Thorsen and drummer Duncan Moore. He also fills in from time to time at solo gigs for Mike Wofford, San Diego's most nationally celebrated jazz pianist, at downtown's elegant University Club.

A prolific writer, White has already filled several books with his original compositions. "I consider music to be my first language," he said. "I speak music."

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