Biography

British jazz pianist/composer, Simon Lasky, has received major awards for his music in the U.S. and the U.K., including a 2018 British Composer Award, two 2024 Creative Loafing Best of The Bay Awards, a 2025 Palladium Creative Fellowship, and regular endorsements from ISJAC (the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers) – his music selected for high profile presentations at ISJAC’s bi-annual symposia.

“Lasky’s music is atmospheric, melodic, airy, thoughtful and often influenced by the Pat Metheny Group without being too derivative.”

— Scott Yanow, Los Angeles Jazz Scene

Simon’s 3 albums as a leader showcase dozens of compositions for jazz ensembles. His music has been performed in London’s Barbican Hall and Wigmore Hall, and broadcast extensively on BBC radio and NPR. He has performed and recorded with leading jazz artists from the U.S. and European jazz scenes, including Tim Garland, Sara Caswell, Alexis Cole, Danny Gottlieb, Herlin Riley, Paul Booth, Ant Law, Jack Wilkins and James Suggs.

Simon relocated from London, England to Tampa, Florida in 2018 on the receipt of a Fellowship to study jazz composition at the University of South Florida with multiple GRAMMY nominated big band composer, Chuck Owen. Simon has recently performed in New York City jazz clubs, Florida jazz festivals, and he leads his Tampa Bay based jazz group in sold out concerts throughout South and Central Florida. In demand as a soloist, a lecturer, a clinician and a sideman, Simon is currently an Adjunct Faculty Music Professor at the University of South Florida and Hillsborough Community College.

“A paean to well-constructed composition and honest-to-goodness musical texture.”

— Rob Mallows, London Jazz News