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Chuck Stevens
After spending his freshman year of college at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and studying with renowned composer/arranger Ken Schaphorst (who now heads the improvisation department at the New England Conservatory), he transferred to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. While there, he studied with the guitarist who quickly became one of his main influences, Vic Juris, as well as pianist Stanley Cowell, trumpeter William "Prof" Fielder, and saxophonist Ralph Bowen. While attending Rutgers, he began working in clubs in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. He also began writing for his own trios and quartets and several of his compositions are available in the audio samples page.
Since graduating, he has moved to New York and played with such musicians as Frank Wess, Grant Stewart, Ralph Peterson Jr., Joel Frahm, Pete Bernstein, Dr. Art Davis, Gene Bertoncini, and Joe Magnerelli appearing in such venues as Blue Note, Smalls, Smoke, and Kavehaz. In November ‘03, he appeared in a three-guitar plus rhythm section series at the Steve Getz Music Hall with fellow guitarists Vic Juris and Dave Stryker entitled "Six-string legends." More recently, in September ‘05, he was chosen as one of ten semi-finalists in the highly selective 2005 international Thelonious Monk Guitar Competition. Currently, he lives in New York and plays regularly at local restaurants and jazz clubs. He continues to build on his versatility and develop his voice on the guitar.