Harold O'Neal

Harold O'Neal was born in Arusha, Tanzania, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. His great-grandfather, Ollie Harold Pennington, was a jazz pianist and composer for silent film in Kansas City, where his grandmother walked to school with Charlie Parker. Harold began playing the piano by ear at age 4 on his father's miniature keyboard. He found his earliest inspirations in the music of Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, and Disney. While growing up, his family had a tradition of playing games together to find the distinct rhythms of songs. Having spent much of his youth living in the projects (Public Housing) and surviving near-death experiences, he credits music with saving his life.

O'Neal attended the Paseo Academy Of Fine And Performing Arts, with classmates Logan Richardson, Lil' Ronnie, and Brian Kennedy, where he began his jazz piano studies while being mentored by Ahmad Alaadeen. He studied classical piano and composition with Margie Cameron-Jarrett, whose musical lineage can be traced back to Franz Liszt. He began working with musical luminaries from a young age — touring the world with Bobby Watson when he was 19 after studying composition at the Berklee College Of Music. He then went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music. It was there where Harold met the great American jazz pianist and composer, Andrew Hill, with whom he soon became the apprentice of. Mr. Hill was an apprentice of prolific composer Paul Hindemith. Following Andrew Hill's advice, O'Neal left the Manhattan School of Music to replace pianist Jason Moran in the influential band, the Greg Osby 4, making his major-label debut recording for Blue Note Records at the age of 21. In 2004, O'Neal premiered a jazz quartet featuring Greg Osby, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and Matt Brewer.

In the following years, O'Neal released a number of albums including "Charlie's Suite" (2006), which was a compilation of his family's legacy, "Whirling Mantis" (2010) with a jazz quartet and a solo piano album "Marvelous Fantasy" (2011) on Smalls Records. He then partnered with Ski Beats and Damon Dash, after being signed to Universal Music Group as a songwriter and producer, to release the albums 24 Hour Karate School 2 (2011), Twilight (2012) and Cam'Ron And Vado's Blu Tops (2012). In 2012, O'Neal formed a partnership with producers Lil Ronnie and Jerry Wonda working with many Pop and R&B artists (Miguel, Akon, Melissa Ethridge, Raphael Saadiq, French Montana). In 2013, he released the album "Man On The Street" featuring a jazz quartet as well as solo piano for Universal. O'Neal worked as an additional composer on the 2015 Disney film Tomorrowland with Anthony Giacchino, which starred George Clooney and Britt Robertson. The film was directed by Brad Bird with the bulk of the film-score being composed by Michael Giacchino. His solo piano album "Piano Cinema" was released in May 2018, with "Sam and Sam" serving as the lead single. Following the album release, O'Neal completed a spring tour across the U.S. with The Blk Shp with Pixar as a partner.

Electric Burma

On June 18, 2012, Harold performed with U2, Lupe Fiasco, Bob Geldof, Damien Rice, Angelique Kidjo and many other major artists for the presentation of Amnesty International's prestigious 'Ambassador of Conscience' Award to Aung San Suu Kyi. The award was originally announced from the stage when U2 played Croke Park in July 2009 - while the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize recipient was still under house arrest in Burma.

Global Citizen: World On Stage

On September 22, 2016, Harold performed with Aloe Blacc and Maya Jupiter for The Global Citizen Festival's The World On Stage, a night curated by Tom Morello and Jon Batiste. The evening was dedicated to several prominent speakers who addressed various causes—such as education, the refugee crisis, gender equality, poverty, hunger, and much more—and the presentation of the inaugural George Harrison Global Citizen award, presented by Paul Simon to Olivia and Dhani Harrison (George's widow and son).

The BLK SHP Bus Tours

Harold is a key member of Blk Shp (Black Sheep) -- a diverse collective of educators, entrepreneurs, and artists. With the recent Blk Shp Bus Tour the group traveled across the U.S. in search of untold American mentorship stories. Exploring a range of disciplines: from classroom experiences to museums to blacksmiths; BLK SHP partnered in this project with Pixar. Pixar—who are famous for their original and inspiring movies—co-hosted many of the Bus Tour workshops, having inspired the origin of BLK SHP back in 2012. Today, the BLK SHP community includes over 3,000 creative specialists in North America and abroad.

Benjamin Franklin Medal Ceremony

Herbie Hancock received the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts) from the Royal Society for the Arts on December 4, 2018 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—being recognized for his long lifetime of creative achievements and humanitarian efforts. The 264-year-old Royal Society for the Arts, based in London, includes Franklin as a founding fellow and initiated the Benjamin Franklin medal in 1956 to honor people who transcend their vocation to generally benefit mankind. The ceremony featured bassist Christian McBride and pianist Harold O’Neal as guest star performers, each musically representing the electric and acoustic side of Herbie's legacy.

In 2009, O'Neal appeared as an actor in Jay Z's music video for the hit record Young Forever, from his multi-platinum album The Blueprint 3. In 2010, he was cast in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, portraying James P. Johnson. He was also featured in MTV's Sucker Free as a principal dancer.

• Harold is the nephew of Pete O'Neal, former leader of the Black Panther Party
• He holds a black belt in kenpo karate having spent significant time as a full contact kickboxer
• Harold's cousin is Emanuel Cleaver, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• He is a member of the legendary breakdance crew, the Dynamic Rockers
• Harold is considered by many to be a polymath.

• Fortune: Leadership Include U Challenge
• NPR's All Things Considered Interview
• PRI's Studio 360: Profile
• WNYC Soundcheck: Interview
• NPR's Fresh Air: Interview
• The New York Times - Marvelous Fantasy
• The New York Times - Whirling Mantis
• The 92Y's 7 Days Of Genius

• Official Site
• Harold O'Neal Facebook fan page