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Matthew Stevens

A leading artist of his generation, Grammy Nominated “Matthew Stevens’ singular style dissolves the demarcation lines between jazz, rock and ambient music.” (Mojo****) Stevens’ music is “honest and soulful” (Pitchfork) and is described as “music (that) advances the ideals of modern jazz”. (NPR)

In addition to his critically acclaimed solo albums, Woodwork, Preverbal, Pittsburgh and In Common 1, 2 and 3 with Walter Smith III, Stevens’ songs and guitar playing are featured on over 70 albums including those by artists Christian Scott atunde Adjuah, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Dave Douglas, Anna B Savage, Jamire Williams, Sean Jones, Linda May Han Oh, Harvey Mason, and Jany Green.

Stevens has worked as a guitarist with producers Quincy Jones, Glen Ballard and Tony Visconti. As a producer, he worked on Esperanza Spalding’s albums Exposure and the Grammy winning 12 Little Spells and on Terri Lyne Carrington’s Grammy nominated album Waiting Game, which featured guests such as Lalah Hathaway, Andrew Bird, Robert Glasper, Rapsody, Maimouna Youssef, Meshell Ndegeocello, Malcolm Jamal Warner, and Kokayi.

He lives in Harlem NY and is a Professor of Jazz Studies at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD.

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Radio & Podcasts

Matthew Stevens: on collaboration, production, gear and career

Read "Matthew Stevens: on collaboration, production, gear and career" reviewed by Leo Sidran


Guitarist Matthew Stevens talks about growing up in Toronto and watching guitar players like Lenny Breau and Ed Bickert, his work with Esperanza Spalding, Christian Scott, Walter Smith III and Eric Doob, and how he feels about collaboration, production, gear and his career. ...

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Album Review

Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens: In Common III

Read "In Common III" reviewed by Chris May


The third iteration of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens' In Common project is another delightfully lyrical and inventive affair. Each of the albums presents Smith and Stevens in the company of a different three-piece rhythm section. The first had vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The second had pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Nate Smith. On In Common III, the quintet is completed by pianist ...

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Album Review

Alex Brown: The Dark Fire Sessions

Read "The Dark Fire Sessions" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Brown delivers his second solo album and follow up to his amazing debut album, Pianist (Sunny Side, 2010), with the audacious The Dark Fire Sessions comprised of nine superb original compositions of all rhythm-based music without horns or brass. The album contains a delicious taste of the Latin, Afro-Cuban and south American rhythms Brown has come to appreciate strongly, though it is not an entirely Latin recording, as evidenced by the various mainstream sounds on ...

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Album Review

Matthew Stevens: Pittsburgh

Read "Pittsburgh" reviewed by Chris May


Good things were promised by New York-based guitarist Matthew Stevens' fusionesque sophomore album, Preverbal (Ropeadope, 2017). It was made with a kicking trio comprising the exceptional bassist Vicente Archer, a longstanding associate of Robert Glasper, and drummer Eric Doob, whose credits include organist Dr Lonnie Smith and, alongside Stevens, trumpeter Christian Scott. In the normal course of events, said good things would likely have come by autumn 2021, perhaps in the form of another trio album. But the timeline was ...

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Album Review

Walter Smith III: In Common 2

Read "In Common 2" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The musical paths of saxophonist/composer Walter Smith III and guitarist/composer Matthew Stevens have crossed on many occasions over the years, touring and recording together in their respective bands and those of Esperanza Spalding, Ambrose Akinmusire, Terence Blanchard, Dave Douglas and Terri Lynne Carrington. They first recorded together in 2017, convening a stellar band to interpret original compositions written for the session. In Common (Whirlwind, 2018) was well received for its original sound and spontaneity. They've reconvened for In ...

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Album Review

Dave Douglas: Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie At Zero Gravity

Read "Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie At Zero Gravity" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala


Chi si aspetta da questo disco un omaggio fedele all'approccio umoristico e pirotecnico di Dizzy Gillespie, non conosce Dave Douglas. Il trombettista, che ha compiuto lo scorso marzo cinquantasette anni, ha mostrato nelle frequenti dediche ai protagonisti della storia del jazz la propria propensione del tutto personale a tale pratica: lo ha fatto tra l'altro con Mary Lou Williams, Wayne Shorter, Booker Little. Nello splendido Devotion, pubblicato lo scorso anno, in trio con Uri Caine e Andrew Cyrille, c'erano pure ...

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Album Review

Dave Douglas: Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie At Zero Gravity

Read "Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie At Zero Gravity" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The distinctive trumpet of Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993), with the idiosyncratic upward angle of its bell, is transformed into a starship on the cover of Dave Douglas' Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie in Zero Gravity, seemingly soaring above the stratosphere, in Earth orbit. Douglas has a history of nodding to past greats: pianist Mary Lou Williams on Soul On Soul (Sony Legacy, 2000), saxophonist Wayne Shorter on Stargazer (Arabesque, 1997), and on a pair of Riverside discs that explored the music of ...

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Guitarist Matthew Stevens is utterly in the now.. - The Prague Post

Stevens weaves rectangular guitar mazes both melodic and modern at the same time. - NPR

A young player already smart enough to use his chops selectively, with purpose. - JAZZ TIMES

He (Stevens) may be cerebral in the clear consideration going into every note, every chord; but, with an impassioned sense of commitment, his solos built with a burning combination of inevitability and sheer unpredictability.
 - John Kelman, All About Jazz

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Dark Fire Sessions

Self Produced
2022

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In Common III

Whirlwind Recordings
2022

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Pittsburgh

Whirlwind Recordings
2021

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Dizzy Atmosphere:...

Greenleaf Music
2020

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In Common 2

Whirlwind Recordings
2020

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Rich in Symbols

Ropeadope
2017

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Videos

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