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Rafael Statin

About Me

Rafael Statin is one of those rarest of young jazz instrumentalist who can combine great passion, intellectual discipline, and a spiritual fire that is evocative of great artistic creativity. He has so far established himself as a remarkable composer and musician. Rafael has had the greatest privilege of sharing the bandstand amongst two of the very best Jazz musicians of today, Robert Hurst III and Jeff “Tain” Watts. Rafael received incredible reviews from New York's local jazz critics playing with them.

Hailing from Detroit, Rafael attended pre-college education at Detroit School of Arts and began to seriously study jazz at age 15 with Detroit's own Sax Master George Benson. During high school, Rafael also studied and played with the Detroit Symphony Jazz Orchestra. DSJO is an educational program that provides Michigan's premiere young jazz musicians with pre-professional training that builds upon the strong traditions of jazz in Detroit. Through this program Rafael got immeasurable tutelage from the legendary bassist Rodney Whitaker and his team of jazz mentors. Thanks to them, Rafael was able to work extensively among the Detroit jazz scene, developing and molding him into the traditional Mo-town sound while also pushing him forward out in the NYC jazz scene.

Currently, Rafael is under the strict and supportive guidances from some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time including Reggie Workman, Jimmy Owens, Mark Shim, Ron Blake, and Kenny Garrett just to name a few. Rafael Statin firmly believes that through his ancestors he has been bestowed an important inheritance of musical tradition and style of music “deemed as Jazz”. Even though he is deeply rooted in Jazz traditions, he has been influenced and inspired by many musical traditions.