Emmanuel Michael

Dayna Stephens: Closer Than We Think

by Jack Bowers
April 15, 2025

A few brief observations: first, New York-based Dayna Stephens is an excellent saxophonist. Second, the other members of his quartet on Closer Than We Think, Stephens' twelfth album as a leader, are similarly proficient. Third, Stephens clearly had a specific plan in mind before entering GB's Juke Joint to record the album in May 2023, one whose purpose, he writes, was to nurture a spirit of togetherness as an answer to today's divisive and fractured landscape. While ...