Jon Elbaz was born in 1995 and grew up in New Jersey. He started studying the piano at age 8 and was fortunate to hear CDs of Erroll Garner, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and many others in the car when his mom was driving to work or elsewhere. He began taking jazz piano lessons at 14 and studied with Aaron Weiman and Jeremy Manasia during this time. He attended New England Conservatory from 2013-2017 and was active writing his own music and leading bands while taking lessons with Frank Carlberg, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, and a few others. His classmates a significant source of inspiration for him, he was exposed to the gamut of contemporary (and canonical) music through his peers and was often hunkered down in the practice rooms for 10 hours a day trying to work out one idea or another. Throughout his musical journey he has run parallel courses in investigating the work of the deceased but spiritually alive master musicians while engaging in a scientific exploration of his own understanding of music. Based in NYC since 2017, he has worked regularly in an eclectic assortment of settings like many other musicians in the city. He leads his own band a few times a month with saxophonist Matt Knoegel, bassist Henry Fraser, and drummer James Nadien.