“Just when you try to think of what could possibly make it better, in comes the piano.”
– Shea Carver, Encore Magazine
Judging from his thick brogue, Sharif is a traditional Irishman. Unless he’s French. Except…. he was born in Seoul, Korea and began playing piano pre-kindergarten in Taiwan. He later picked up clarinet and trumpet through middle school in Gaithersburg, MD, and then guitar and drums while in high school in Beijing. He’s also passed through New Dehli, India, the Ivory Coast and Massachusetts. Eventually, he settled back in Maryland and decided he needed to be an amazing bass player as well. Sharif’s exotic good looks come from a mixture of Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, English, French, Scottish and a couple of Dutch genes. Really, no-one can explain the accents, and we generally try to just keep him quiet lest he say something bizarre that sullies our brains forever.
Sharif shines as a creator of texture, elegance and melody and has been responsible for reimagining a number of ilyAIMY tunes into dramatic new forms. He originally encountered ilyAIMY at a show at the sadly-deceased Year of the Rabbit Cafe where he was so enraptured with the music he trailed rob to an open mic later that week and asked to sit in. rob threw difficult songs and barrels at him but he demonstrated a fantastic capacity for improvised beauty that has made him a coveted accompanist and an exquisite part of ilyAIMY’s overall sound.
When ilyAIMY’s core duo of rob and Heather are touring, Sharif and Rowan have been known to perform as a duo called io. He also performs as part of the Acacia Sears Band, Dan Zimmerman’s The Great Outdoor Fight, Murder of Trolls – and often with whoever can get their hands on him.