# Skinny Hightower

Jason Carroll (born November 12, 1985), known professionally as Skinny Hightower, is an American jazz pianist. In 2020, his album Blue Moon finished as the 14th overall smooth jazz album on the Smooth Jazz Year End Top 100 Album Chart. In the same year, his single "Bittersweet" finished as the sixth overall single on the 2020 Billboard Year-End charts for Smooth Jazz Airplay Songs. Two singles from Blue Moon, the title track "Blue Moon" and "Now or Never", finished 36th and 38th respectively on the 2021 Billboard Year-End charts for Smooth Jazz Airplay Songs. Hightower was also the number seven artist on the 2021 Billboard Year-End Smooth Jazz Airplay Artists list. Hightower's singles "Blue Moon," "Now or Never," and "Taboo" all reached number one on the Smooth Jazz Airplay Billboard charts. "Blue Moon" also reached number one on the Smooth Jazz Network Top 20 singles chart.

## Early life

Hightower was born in Wichita, Kansas on November 12, 1985. Hightower's interest in music began at age two when he would sit on his father's lap and play the drums. His involvement would continue as he later developed a mild interest in piano at age eight and began playing bass at the age of 12. Jazz and gospel were his primary musical influences at the time. Hightower later attended Wichita South High School where he played as a percussionist in the marching band, pep band, jazz band, and concert band.

## Music career
### 2012–2017: Military service and Cloud Nine

In 2012, Skinny Hightower enlisted in the United States Army where he served for five years and was promoted up to the rank of Sergeant. He deployed to Afghanistan during the War in Afghanistan for a few months. Four years into his military contract, he recorded and released his first studio album Cloud Nine.

#### Name origin

Hightower's pseudonym originated as a nickname given to him by his fellow servicemembers. Upon learning that he was a jazz musician, his Army friends called him a skinny Mr. Hightower (played by Steve Harvey) in connection with the 1996 sitcom The Steve Harvey Show.

### 2020: Blue Moon

In 2020, Skinny Hightower released Blue Moon which spawned the second and third number one Billboard singles of his career. The production of the album consisted of the recording of 100 songs of which 24 were selected by a team of 10 individuals.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Album title | Release year | Record label |
| Cloud Nine | 2016 | Vein Records |
| Emotions | 2017 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| Retrospect | 2018 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| Blue Moon | 2020 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| Mind Over Matter | 2023 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| THE MAN | 2024 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Peak chart position | Album | Ref(s) |
| Title | Year | US Jazz (Smooth) | Album | Ref(s) |
| "Taboo" | 2017 | 1 | Emotions | |
| "Bittersweet" | 2020 | 3 | Blue Moon | |
| "Blue Moon" | 2020 | 1 | Blue Moon | |
| "Now or Never" | 2020 | 1 | Blue Moon | |

### Collaborations

| Year | Artist | Release | Additional information | Ref(s) |
| 2018 | Lin Rountree | Stronger Still | Featured artist, piano | |
| 2019 | Cindy Bradley | The Little Things | Bass, vibraphone | |

## Live performances
### Festivals

| Year | Title | Role | Ref(s) |
| 2018 | Catalina Island Jazztrax Festival | Featured artist | |
| 2019 | Seabreeze Jazz Festival | Featured artist | |