Jamshied Sharifi was born in Topeka, Kansas to an Iranian father and an American mother. At an early age, Sharifi was exposed to jazz and Middle Eastern music by his father and to European classical and church music by his mother. He began to study classical piano at age five and quickly developed a thirst for musical instruction and a desire to improvise. At age nine he began studying guitar and drums, and at age ten added flute.

While Sharifi’s initial focus in music can be credited to American jazz, it is his infusions of elements from the Middle East and Africa that make his music distinctive. He is an accomplished pianist and synthesizer player. Notably, Sharifi holds the synthesizer to an ‘acoustic’ standard and aims to play it with the detail and richness of articulation that comes naturally to an acoustic instrumentalist. To achieve this sound he uses a controller which allows him to manipulate the synthesizer with his breath. He combines this technique with a ribbon controller that allows him to bend the pitch smoothly and continuously with his finger. According to Jamshied, using both these techniques makes the instrument a “wind-driven, fretless synthesizer”.

Sharifi is also known for his work on film soundtracks for many major studio and independent films including Muppets From Space, Down To Earth, Harriet the Spy, and Clockstoppers, and contributed to the scores of The Thomas Crown Affair and The Rugrats Movie. In addition to creating his own albums and scoring films, Sharifi has arranged and produced albums for many artists, including Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo, and Persian vocalist Mamak Khadem.