José-Miguel Yamal is a Chilean-American jazz pianist with a repertoire as deep and eclectic as his love of all music rhythmic and soulful. José-Miguel was studying classical guitar at the nationally acclaimed High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas when he realized his true voice was best spoken through the piano, specifically in the jazz genre. After changing instruments and experimenting with jazz as a form of self-expression, José-Miguel quickly nurtured and grew his talent as a pianist. Recent trips to Latin American have not only enlivened José-Miguel’s Hispanic cultural roots, but have resulted in an expansive musical vocabulary of salsa, cumbia, bossa nova, samba, and cuecas. The Latin American styles, infused with funk and soul are the synergy of a
cultural palette of sounds which now define José-Miguel’s voice in the music
scene.

José-Miguel has performed with many jazz greats including Tom Harrell, Bob Mintzer, Carlos Garnett, Hubert Laws, and Milt Hinton; he has also collaborated with salsa singers Ismael Miranda, Rey De la Paz, Luisito Carrion, Choco Orta, to name a few. José-Miguel has performed in the internationally acclaimed 2001 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland as well as the Kemah Jazz Festival, Houston International Festival, Corpus Christi Texas Jazz Festival, and the Puerto Rican Festival. José-Miguel’s passion for music is complemented by his love of mathematics and science; he is currently a doctorate student in the Statistics Department of Rice University and working as a researcher at the world renowned UT MDAnderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.