Harold O'Neal was born in Arusha, Tanzania where he lived until the age of four when he came 'home' to Kansas City, his father's birthplace. He began playing the piano at the age of 14 while a student at Paseo Performing Arts Academy. By the age of 16 he was working professionally as a musician. After graduating high school Harold went to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music. He continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music studying with Kenny Baron and started touring with saxophonist Bobby Watson in 2001. Since then Harold has been establishing a name for himself in NYC and LA and points between, performing with many jazz greats.

Elvin Jones,Bob Hurst, Vanessa Rubin,Kenny Garrett,Richard Davis,Nicholas Payton, Joe Chambers, Carl Allen, Rodney Whitaker,Victor Lewis, Essiet Essiet,Gary Bartz, Paquito D'Rivera, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, Bobby Watson, Jeff 'Tain Watts, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Greg Osby, Phil Upchurch, Marvin' Smitty Smith, Curtis and Carmen Lundy, and many others.

In 2002, Harold was introduced to Greg Osby by jazz legend Andrew Hill. In 2003 came his sideman recording debut on Greg Osby's St. Louis Shoes(Blue Note). The outstanding line up for this album included Greg on sax, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, and Bob Hurst and Rodney Green on bass and drums. Harold received critical praise for his contributions to the recording.

Harold has performed across the US, Europe and the Middle East. A partial list of venues and clubs where Harold has performed includes the Village Vanguard in NYC, The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Detroit Institute of the Arts in Detroit, The Blue Note in NY & The Smithsonian in D.C.

Harold is one of the leading instrumentalists and composers of his generation. In 2005, Harold debuted his group, the "Harold O'Neal Project" at the Jazz Gallery in NYC, wich featured Bassist Matt Brewer, Greg Osby, and Jeff 'Tain Watts.

**Semi-Finalist in Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Harold will be featured in a documentary following the Monk Competition, to be aired February 14th on BET Jazz & PBS

**Currently working with Bobby Watson's Live and Learn Band- Curtis Lundy,bass -Quincy Davis, drums -Warren Wolf, vibes -Leron Thomas tpt.

• Harold O'Neal Project, "Charlie's Suite" (PME)
• Greg Osby, "St.Lous Shoes" (BlueNote)
• Leron Thomas, "Dirty Draws Vol.1" (CDbaby)
• Ahmad Aladeen, "New Africa Suite" (ASR)
• Nate Kid, "JaFunk" (Indie)