Jarrod Lawson works as a composer, keyboardist, and vocalist whose primary influences trace to Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway. He weaves social and spiritual themes through an uplifting style, while his instrumental command reflects wide-ranging musical study and a strong jazz foundation. Critics have also singled out his singing for its kinship with the approaches of Al Jarreau and Mark Murphy. After issuing his first recording, the award-recognized Jarrod Lawson in 2014, he produced a varied collection of instrumental pieces under the Orpheus name and later delivered Be the Change in 2020, his second album released under his own name.
Music surrounded Lawson from childhood because his father ran a recording studio inside the family residence in Redwood City, California. Drawn first to drums as a young child, he kept developing his skills after the household relocated northward to Oregon, where he also received instruction from his father. At college he pursued formal music studies and sang in both a chamber choir and a jazz ensemble. He established his standing as a solo artist through repeated appearances in Portland, support slots with prominent R&B and jazz acts, and several international tours. The harmonically rich self-titled debut appeared in 2014, issued by Dome in the United Kingdom and released independently in the United States. BBC host Gilles Peterson and other discerning DJs and R&B listeners embraced the album, which earned a nomination for Peterson’s Worldwide Award in the Album of the Year category; Jazz FM further honored Lawson as its Soul Artist of the Year.
Lawson took his time before completing a follow-up, maintaining an active schedule of international tours and festival performances while also contributing to projects by R&B, jazz, and rap artists. A four-song BBC session recorded for Gilles Peterson’s program received a commercial release in 2015. In 2016 he collaborated with fellow Portland musician Tahirah Memory on the InterMission EP. The following year he issued Visions, a largely instrumental album under the Orpheus alias. Be the Change, the direct successor to his debut, reached listeners in 2020.
