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Tim Stevens

Tim Stevens is an improvising pianist, composer and scholar based in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at the Victorian College of the Arts (MMus, 1996) and the University of Melbourne (PhD, 2000), graduating from the latter with a thesis entitled 'The Origins, Development and Significance of the Red Onion Jazz Band, 1960-1996'.

Between 1995 and 2000 he was a member of the co-operative trio Browne - Haywood - Stevens, with Allan Browne (drums) and Nick Haywood (bass), and this band released two CDs: 'King, Dude and Dunce' (Newmarket, 1996) and 'Sudden in a shaft of sunlight' (ABC Jazz, 1998).

He lived in Sydney from 2000-2001 and formed a trio there with Mark Lau (bass) and Simon Barker (drums), that travelled to perform at the Pori Jazz Festival and Umbria Jazz in 2001. Prior to leaving Sydney he recorded his first album with Rufus Records, the solo 'Freehand'.

Since returning to Melbourne he has performed and recorded with a trio comprising Ben Robertson (bass), Dave Beck (drums) and himself, and this trio's first two recordings 'Nine open questions' and 'Three friends in winter' have been critically praised. They feature, respectively, Stevens' own compositions and the trio's collective spontaneous improvisation.

He has maintained an interest in classical music, having been trained initially in classical piano, and has recently performed Schubert's 'Winterreise<' with Stephen Grant (bass baritone), and Schumann's 'Frauenliebe und -leben' with Alison Lemoh (mezzo-soprano). He was also the recipient of an Ian Potter Music Commission in 2001, which led to the composition of 'Four Words of Elizabeth Hunter', on texts by Patrick White, premiered at the 2002 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz.

Early in 2008, Tim Stevens Trio released its third album, entitled 'Mickets'. The band appeared at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz in 2010, both in its own right and working with New York vocalist, Kendra Shank. Compositions premiered at the trio's Wangaratta performance were later recorded at ABC Studios Southbank and released in 2011 on the CD, 'Scare quotes' (Rufus Records). All the trio's records have been sent to 'All About Jazz', but none of them has ever scored a review. Obviously this doesn't matter at all.

Tim was the winner of a Professional Development Award offered by the Australasian Performing Right Association in March 2011, and this resulted in the recording of a second solo CD, 'Life's undertow', released in March 2012 (Rufus Records).

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7
Album Review

Tim Stevens Double Trio: with whom you can be who you are

Read "with whom you can be who you are" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Most jazz pianists with classical training in their backgrounds seem to feel the pull of of the strings: whether it be Bill Evans with his Bill Evans Trio With Symphony Orchestra Verve, 1965); Phineas Newborn, Jr. on While My Lady Sleeps (Bluebird/RCA, 1957); or, to bring it into the new millennium: Brad Mehldau's Highway Rider (Nonesuch, 2010); and Danny Green's Danny Green Trio Plus Strings (OA2 Records, 2018). Australian pianist Tim Stevens--best known perhaps for his work with ...

5
Album Review

Tim Stevens: I'll Tell You Later In December

Read "I'll Tell You Later In December" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pick your Christmas music, secular or sacred. The former probably gets more attention. “White Christmas," “Santa Claus is Coming to Town," “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," and, of course, Chuck Berry rock'n “Run Run Rudolph." Earth-bound seasonal sounds that bring out the holiday spirit. But sometimes it seems the more sacred side of that equation gets sold short. Melbourne, Australia-based pianist Tim Stevens grew up with the Anglican Church as an essential part of his life. No ...

4
Album Review

Tim Stevens: Media Vita

Read "Media Vita" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Australian pianist Tim Stevens chose the year 2016 to pump up his compositional prowess, vowing to write one tune per day. The challenge he set for himself resulted in three hundred and sixty-six tunes (2016 was a leap year), and Media Vita, twelve pieces culled from the year long effort. Classically trained, but working much in the free improvisation mode--trio and solo--Media Vita is Stevens' first solo outing that concentrates on his written compositions. His is a refined ...

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144

Recording

Tim Stevens Trio: New Release on Rufus Records

Tim Stevens Trio: New Release on Rufus Records

Source: All About Jazz

Tim Stevens Trio Mickets The new album from Melbourne's Tim Stevens Trio, Mickets, a set mostly of original pieces, builds on a composed and improvised repertoire developed over a 5-year collaboration. A return to written forms is no move backwards, for the benefits of collective spontaneous improvisation explored on Three friends in winter (2005) are evident in the group's thoughtful and attentive interplay. Stevens explores idiosyncratic harmonic structures and extends ...

‘delightful…Unsentimental yet emotionally arresting, it’s an uncompromising solo debut that lays bare Stevens’s challenging, rewarding and unpredictable movements.’ (Ashleigh Wilson, 'The Weekend Australian', regarding 'Freehand')

‘a mixture of dynamism, lyricism and exploration wrapped inside unstinting discipline…Always on the way to somewhere, his lines unfolding with spellbinding logic. Though the control of dynamics can be dazzling it’s the rigorous organisation of his ideas which takes centre place…He sounds unlike anyone else and is satisfyingly mature.’ (Shane Nichols, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/ and 'Australian Financial Review', regarding 'Freehand')

‘Rather than focusing on percussive assaults or other feats of piano prowess, the goal is to capture the other side of the spectrum by utilizing a delicate touch, subtle passions, joy and introspection

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Later still

Rufus Records
2019

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Media Vita

Rufus Records
2017

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I'll Tell You Later...

Rufus Records
2017

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I'll tell you later

Rufus Records
2015

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Life's undertow:...

Rufus Records
2012

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Wrested

From: Media Vita
By Tim Stevens

Our little systems

From: Mickets
By Tim Stevens

Videos

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