Born: March 13, 1951 Primary Instrument: Piano
I was born in New York City in and received my MA in Music from Queens College in 1992 where I studied with Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hanna, Thea Musgrave, Sol Berkowitz and Donald Byrd. I was the Margaret Lee Crofts Fellow at “The MacDowell Colony” in the summer of 2000 and received 2nd prize in the Monaco International Jazz Composition. In 2006 I was a Composer Fellow at Centrum Arts in Port Townsend, WA.
I have been and continue to be an active pianist/composer and band leader for the past 30 years. I have released over 75 cds of my original music on numerous jazz record labels including Leo Records (England), Drimala Records (VA), Soul Note Records (Italy), Konnex Records Germany), Music and Arts (CA), Cadence Records (NY), Red Toucan Records (Canada), GM Recordings (MA) 482 Music (NY), Unit Records (Switzerland), Nottwo Records (Poland), Cadence Jazz (USA), Playscape recordings and several other labels.. Over 100 of my more than 400 original composed works have been recorded and are regularly broadcast throughout the world. My music has been featured in live radio concerts throughout Europe, Japan and North America including BRTN (Belgium), Saarbrucken Rundfunk (Germany), WDR Radio (Germany), Radio Bremen (Germany), Radio Zurich (Switzerland), VPRO Radio Amsterdam (Holland), BRF Radio (Belgium), Danmarks Radio (Arhus, Denmark) and Radio Nurnberg (Germany).
I currently co-lead several working musical ensembles including The Fonda/Stevens Group, Conference Call, the Eastern Boundary Quartet, the Griffith/Stevens Quartet and Generations Trio.
I frequently tour both Europe, Latin America and North America and have performed at numerous international jazz festivals including the Edgefest in Ann Arbor (MI), the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle (WA, the Hurth Jazznacht (Hurth, Germany), Guelph Jazz Festival (Canada), the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (Canada), Jazzmeille Thuringen (Germany), San Sebastian International Jazz Festival (Spain), Jazz Halo (Belgium), the Kaunas International Jazz Festival (Lithuania), Cerkno Jazz Festival (Slovenia) and many others.
Awards:
Numerous Meet the Composer Grants; MacDowell Artist Colony Fellow; 2nd Prize Monaco International Jazz Composition Contest; Eubie Blake Scholars Award; Semifinalist Heineken Jazz Contest; Tennessee Arts Commission Travel Grant; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts - Artist RosterPrimary Instrument:
Piano
Location:
Asheville, NC
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
MA from Queens College in Jazz Performance.
I currently teach part time at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. I was on the faculty of Five Towns College between 1992-95, and was head of the keyboard department at the National Guitar Workshop between 1990-2002 in New Milford, CT. I have been guest clinician and artist in residence at numerous educational institutions both here and abroad including the Royal Academy of Music in Arhus, Denmark, "Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City (Mexico), Arizona State University in Tempe (AZ), SUNY at New Paltz (NY), Lichtenstein Big Band Workshop in Eschen (Lichtenstein), Syracuse University (NY), The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Indiana University (Bloomington), University of Iowa (Iowa City), Northern Illinois University (DeKalb), University of Richmond (VA), University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA, the University of Michigan, and most recently conducted a workshop with vocalist Miles Griffith at Taler de Musics in Barcelona, Spain as well as at the Pannonica Jazz club in Nantes, France (March 2008).
Clinic/Workshop Information:
Clinics include:
Workshop on Free Improvisation.
Jazz Composition Seminar.
Jazz Repertoire Seminar.
Jazz Piano and theory.
Jazz Ensembles (students learn and perform original music composed by myself and the class).
