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Growth in Stasis
Stephen Byth
Label: Earshift Music
Released: 2026
Duration: 00:54:12
Views: 911
Tracks
Seed of Thought All is Not Lost The Light in Everything Cutting Ties New Eyes Freedom (!/?) Illusions Time is Now Growth in Stasis Upon Reflection
Personnel
Stephen Byth
saxophone, tenorYessaï Karapetian
synthesizer
Simón Willson
bassAngus Mason
drumsAlexandra Ridout
trumpet
Alfredo Colón
saxophoneCaleb Smith
trombone
John Ellis
saxophoneAlbum Description
Australian saxophonist and composer Stephen Byth returns with Growth in Stasis (October 16th, 2026 via Earshift Music), an expansive contemporary jazz album balancing lyrical composition, cinematic textures and adventurous improvisation.
“Stephen's playing DEMANDS your attention, and his writing shows a depth of musicianship that proves why everyone is talking about Stephen as one of the next important saxophonists.” - Walter Smith III
Drawing on modern jazz, classical music, film scoring and subtle electronics, the album explores how uncertainty, vulnerability and contradiction can become catalysts for change rather than obstacles to overcome.
Now based in New York City, Byth has rapidly established himself as one of Australia's leading emerging jazz voices. His work has earned him an ARIA Award nomination alongside the 2024 National Jazz Award, a 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award and the 2021 Australian Jazz Bell Award for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year. Born and raised in Melbourne, he has performed and recorded with artists including Joe Lovano, Kris Davis, Danilo Perez, Walter Smith III, Paul Grabowsky and Anat Cohen, appearing at leading venues and festivals across the United States, Australia, Europe and Japan.
The central idea behind Growth in Stasis grew from a question Byth once asked Wayne Shorter during a workshop: "How do you turn poison into medicine through your music?" Shorter's reply - "The poison is the medicine" - became a guiding idea for the album. Rather than treating struggle and uncertainty as obstacles, the music embraces them as the source of growth, exploring how instability and contradiction can lead to transformation.
The core quartet brings together Byth with pianist Yessaï Karapetian, bassist Simón Willson and drummer Angus Mason, with trumpeter Alexandra Ridout, alto saxophonist Alfredo Colón, trombonist Caleb Smith and bass clarinettist John Ellis joining on four tracks. Together they balance lyrical melodies, colourful orchestration and open-ended improvisation, allowing the music to move naturally between carefully shaped composition and collective interaction. The record moves fluidly between intimate chamber-like passages and expansive ensemble writing, reflecting the album's dialogue between structure and freedom.
With Growth in Stasis, Stephen Byth continues to develop a musical language shaped as much by curiosity as certainty, offering a thoughtful portrait of an artist finding meaning not by resolving life's contradictions, but by learning to inhabit them.
Album uploaded by Stephen Byth
