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Stein Brothers
Although well known in the Greater Newark / North Jersey Area with a growing New York presence, Asher (alto sax) and Alex (tenor sax) are still in their twenties. They started their careers playing in the late lamented Tuesday jam session at the old Peppermint Lounge in Orange, and have appeared at such venues as New Jersey PAC (Performing Arts Center- including the "Absolut Sounds of the City" Summer Festival), Kavehaz (Manhattan), the Carlyle Hotel (Manhattan), the South Orange "Giants of Jazz", Cecil's Place (West Orange), Shanghai Jazz (Madison), the Crossroads (Garwood), Trumpet's (Montclair), Bula (Newton) and the Priory's (Newark) Friday night Jazz Series.
Both Alex and Asher graduated with majors in Jazz Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both men were awarded Burch Fellowships to study jazz - Asher studied Latin and Caribbean Music in Cuba in 2003 and Alex studied with top musicians and grammy award winning arranger Slide Hampton during the summer of 2002.
Alex and Asher are leaders of their own quintet, are members of the Bud Powell Tribute Sextet and have appeared as members of the T.S. Monk Sextet. The Star Ledger newspaper in 2001 named Asher the youngest on its list of the 20 most promising jazz musicians in New Jersey (State) under forty, describing him as a "fearless improviser." Alex appeared in the Star Ledger photo "A Great Day in New Jersey."
In a November 3, 2003 review in the Newark Star Ledger, Zan Stewart, formerly the jazz critic with the Los Angeles Times, wrote of the Stein Brothers, in an article entitled "Brothers In BeBop", as follows: " . . . . they . . . display an impressive command of, and keen intuition for [bebop's] language [and] are capable of crafting solos and compositions packed with the kind of winsome lines and propulsive rhythms that make listeners pat their feet and nod their heads in appreciation."
Members of the Stein Brothers Quintet also include Harlem's Mferghu on piano, Brooklyn's Doug Largent and Ruslan Khain on bass and Queens' Joe Blaxx on drums.
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The Stein Brothers Quintet: Quixotic
by Laurel Gross
Things couldn’t be tougher for young musicians trying to make a name for themselves on the talent-rich-but-job-scarce New York scene. Or, perhaps in these dicey economic times they could. In any case, fans of straight-ahead may be glad that saxophonists Asher and Alex Stein have stuck it out.
Siblings and even twins aren’t that rare on the local jazz circuit these days, but these promising brothers have been holding their own in clubs around The Big ... read moreThe Stein Brothers Quintet: Quixotic
by Michael P. Gladstone
The theatre darkens and the curtain opens. The opening frame on the silver screen shows a foggy, cliff-side road like the Pacific Coast Highway. An Austin-Healey convertible, with the top down, is negotiating the curves along the scenic stretch. As the camera slowly zooms in on the driver's head, the music from the radio is clearly heard as the date stamp--1956--appears on the screen in small letters. The music is lilting West Coast bebop with an altoist taking control and ...
read moreThe Stein Brothers Quintet: Quixotic
by Eyal Hareuveni
The debut release of the Stein Brothers--Asher on alto sax and Alex on tenor--offers a journey into the bop universe, as defined and structured about fifty years ago. It is done in such a joyful and elegant manner, with remarkable conviction and proficiency in bop's rich musical language, that its anachronistic styling can be forgiven.
The Stein brothers--natives of New Jersey--have studied with bop methodologist and highly appreciated educator Barry Harris, and accordingly draw their inspiration from bebop ...
read moreThe Stein Brothers Quintet: Quixotic
by Edward Blanco
The brotherly saxophone duo of Alex and Asher Stein makes its extraordinary record debut with the very boppish Quixotic, which surprisingly turns out to be one of the finest bop-infused albums of the year. Two young cubs--not quiet lions of jazz yet, but certainly on the way to earning that distinction, Alex plays the tenor with the poise of Stan Getz while Asher handles the alto like a young Phil Woods or Bud Shank. Together they lead a very tight ...
read moreStein Brothers Quintet at Trumpets in Montclair, New Jersey
by David A. Orthmann
Stein Brothers Quintet Trumpets Jazz Club and Restaurant Montclair, New Jersey April 22, 2007
For the past few years the Stein Brothers have been refining a bebop-oriented ensemble sound in a variety of Northern New Jersey venues. Saxophonists Alex and Asher Stein are as enthusiastic in playing for a noisy dinner crowd as an attentive audience of jazz aficionados. A recent appearance at Trumpets was one of a series of gigs preceding their first ...
read moreStein Brothers Quintet in Montville, NJ
by David A. Orthmann
Stein Brothers Quintet Montville Township Public Library Montville, NJ January 11, 2006
Alex and Asher Stein are saxophonists in their early 20s who regularly work in various venues throughout the greater New York City area. The sound of the Stein Brothers Quintet is firmly rooted in bebop, a stylistic road not often taken by young musicians. Shunning the pop oriented material, electric textures, and improvisational pyrotechnics favored by many of their contemporaries, the ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson