Stephen Arnold

Orbit | Updated: July 17, 2026

Born: July 22, 1995

Stephen Arnold is a bassist and composer from Greenfield, Massachusetts and based in Washington, DC. A pianist from a young age, Arnold picked up the upright bass at the George Washington University, where he studied with Herman Burney, Jr. Shortly after college he was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Jason Moran. Arnold contributes to projects by a wide variety of artists including Fran Vielma, Sharón Clark, Todd Marcus, Brandon Woody, Aleks Izotov, Keith Butler, Jr., and ¡FIASCO! Since 2018 he has contributed to over 40 recording projects and performed at many great venues, such as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, and the Howard Theater. Arnold currently serves on faculty of the George Washington University's Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.

Arnold's band Sea Change will release its new album The Hitting Wall in summer 2026, featuring a suite of original compositions and performances by some of the DMV's finest and most compelling musicians. Sea Change has released two acclaimed albums of original compositions, with the most recent, Until Now, having been voted Capitalbop’s #2 DC Jazz Album of 2023. Sea Change has been featured in venues such as the 2024 DC Jazz Festival, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, the Bop Stop at the Music Settlement, Maryland Hall, and An Die Musik.

Awards

GWU Barry Manilow Endowed Prize in Music, 2017

Betty Carter Jazz Ahead, 2018

Sea Change Voted #4 DC Jazz Album of the Year by Capitalbop.com, 2020

Until Now Voted #2 DC Jazz Album of the Year by Capitalbop.com, 2023

Stephen Arnold & Sea Change: The Hitting Wall

Read "The Hitting Wall" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 11, 2026

Although is difficult to pinpoint the precise thread that ties them together, bassist and composer Stephen Arnold envisions the 14 songs of The Hitting Wall as a suite, albeit one whose parts are at times more divergent than complementary, compositionally and in terms of groove. Arnold leads an able sextet whose horn section is comprised of trumpeter Brandon Woody and tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, with guitarist Nelson Dougherty, pianist Federico Pena and drummer Keith Butler Jr. in the ...

"One of the District of Columbia’s breakout artists of the moment is undoubtedly Steve Arnold. The young bassist has very quickly become one of the most in demand on the scene, and he plays with aplomb and with dexterity in seemingly every style.” - Michael J. West, Washington City Paper

"Stephen Arnold is already known as one of the most versatile bassists and side musicians on the D.C. jazz scene. His debut album as a bandleader, Sea Change, with his band of the same name, proves that he may be one of the city’s most imaginative composers too. Sea Change’s music reflects Arnold’s deep study of contemporary jazz and sponge-like ability to absorb music from all other sources...