Results for "Dayna Stephens"

Dayna Stephens

Since the release of his 2007 disc, The Timeless Now (CTA), Dayna Stephens has emerged as one of his generation’s most distinguished modern jazz tenor saxophonists and composers. He hones a sinewy yet supple tone that unfurl poised improvisations with melodic ingenuity. As a composer, Stephens continues to build a multifaceted oeuvre filled with pieces that are cinematic in dynamic scope as they incorporate and suspenseful dialogue and interplay. In addition to establishing himself as a leading early 21st century jazz voice, Stephens has collaborated with an impressive array of jazz musicians, including pianists Brad Mehldau, Taylor Eigsti, Muhal Richard Abrams, Kenny Barron, Theo Hill, Gerald Clayton and Aaron Parks; drummers Brian Blade, Al Foster, Idris Muhammad, Marvin “Boogaloo” Smith, Eric Harland, Matt Slocum and Justin Brown; trumpeters Roy Hargrove, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Michael Rodriguez; saxophonists Jaleel Shaw, Ben Wendel, Chris Potter, John Ellis and Walter Smith III; bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Joe Sanders, Linda Oh, Doug Weiss and Larry Grenadier; vocalists Gretchen Parlato, Becca Stevens and Sachal Vasandani; guitarists Julian Lage, Lage Lund and Charles Altura. The New York Times heralded Stephens as a “must see,” and wrote, “Everything flows with unusual fluency and makes you feel rewarded,” regarding his improvisational facilities

By Water

By Miles Mindlin

Label: Contagious Music
Released: 2026
Track listing: By Water Moranorah Bennett Park The Citizen For What Its Worth Childhood Little While

Rafael Enciso: Bassist Intends To Search, Remember And Evolve

by Dean Nardi
June 16, 2026

Turn your ears on jazz heads, and you'll hear Rafael Enciso and his quartet playing around New York City's five boroughs. And somewhere nearby, someone will surely be listening to his cooling and coiling debut record Crossfades (2025) on Dayna Stephens' Contagious Music label. It slithers down bowling alley lanes and soda pop convenience store aisles ...

Johnathan Blake: 'My Life Matters'—Genesis of a Small Masterpiece

by Marco Iacoboni
May 21, 2026

Johnathan Blake is among the most authoritative drummers on today's international jazz scene. His playing embodies the energy, sophistication and restless curiosity of contemporary New York jazz, shaped through collaborations with artists such as Kenny Barron, Bill Frisell, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Tom Harrell. At the helm of a quintet of remarkable depth and sensitivity, Blake ...

Wayne's Sessions for Miles and Lee at Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa

by Marek J. Śmietański
May 19, 2026

Once upon a time, Miles Davis asked Wayne Shorter to compose music for an orchestral album. Yet neither those legendary sessions with Miles nor the similarly planned recordings with Lee Morgan ever came to life. The extraordinary scores remained hidden for decades--a silent treasure stacked in Wayne's home-- until they were rediscovered by Phillip Golub, assistant musical director of ...

Dayna Stephens: Monk'D

by Angelo Leonardi
May 12, 2026

Da un decennio Dayna Stephens s'è imposto tra i migliori sassofonisti della sua generazione ma pochi lo conoscono come contrabbassista, ruolo che ha assunto saltuariamente con Roy Hargrove, Billy Hart, Joshua Redman e altri. La scelta dello strumento a corde in questo suo progetto dedicato alla musica di Monk nasce dalla volontà di esplorare ...

The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part III: Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite

by Larry Slater
April 24, 2026

Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington recorded a number of musical suites in the 50s and 60s. The Shakespearean Suite “Such Suite Thunder" ranks up there with the greatest Ellington recordings. “The Far East Suite" was another important collaboration and highpoint in the Ellington discography. The band's famous reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, was all Strayhorn. Ellington's last ...

Kendrick Scott Quintet at Smoke

by Paul Reynolds
April 15, 2026

Kendrick Scott Quintet Smoke Jazz Club New York NY April 11, 2026 Kendrick Scott mopped his sweat-streaked face with a towel as he walked from the bandstand at Smoke Jazz Club after his third set of the night on Saturday evening. Plenty of players work hard at America's music, but few do so with ...

Meet Guitarist Miles Mindlin

by AAJ Staff
March 15, 2026

Meet Miles Mindlin Miles Mindlin is an award-winning virtuoso jazz guitarist, composer and bandleader from London. He is based in New York City after completing his masters at the Manhattan School of Music on a scholarship. He is highly in demand across the UK, the USA and Europe and has performed his own music ...

Two from the Times, Two from the Bastards

by Patrick Burnette
February 19, 2026

It's episode two of three covering the New York Times list of Top Ten 2025 jazz albums, and since we generally cover four albums a show, and the Times only picked 10 for their top 10 list, we add a couple of our own picks to this “middle" episode to make the math work. We've got ...