Dayna斯蒂芬斯

Since the release of his 2007 disc, 永恒的当下 (CTA), Dayna斯蒂芬斯 has emerged as one of his generation’s most distinguished modern jazz tenor saxophonists 和 composers. He hones a sinewy yet supple tone, unfurling improvisations of great melodic ingenuity. 作为一名作曲家, Stephens 继续s to build a multifaceted oeuvre filled with pieces that are cinematic in scope 和 incorporate suspenseful dialogue 和 interplay.

Establishing himself as a leading early 21st-century jazz voice, Stephens has collaborated with an impressive array of jazz musicians, including pianists Brad Mehldau, 泰勒Eigsti, 穆哈尔·理查德·艾布拉姆斯, 肯尼·巴伦, 西奥山, 杰拉尔德·克莱顿, 和 亚伦公园; drummers Brian Blade, 艾尔·福斯特, 伊德里斯默罕默德, 马文·"布加卢"·史密斯, 埃里克·哈兰, 马特斯洛克姆, 和 Justin Brown; trumpeters Roy Hargrove, 安布罗斯Akinmusire, 和 Michael Rodriguez; saxophonists Jaleel Shaw, 本·温德尔, 克里斯•波特, 约翰埃利斯, 和 Walter Smith III; bassists Kiyoshi Kitagawa, 乔。桑德斯, 琳达哦, Doug Weiss, 和 Larry 掷弹兵; vocalists Gretchen Parlato, 贝嘉史蒂文斯, 和 Sachal Vas和ani; 和 guitarists Julian 拉赫, 拉赫隆德, 查尔斯·阿尔图拉.

的 纽约时报 heralded Stephens as a “must see,“说, “Everything flows with unusual flow fluency 和 makes you feel rewarded” regarding his improvisation. “When I’m playing, I’m really trying to make something new happen,” explains Stephens. “It often happens by playing unintentional notes. 这让我想到了一个地方. It’s always trying to come up with something singable.”

Stephens has released seven discs as a leader on the CTA, Sunnyside, 和 Criss Cross labels. Noted producer Matt Pierson shepherded his disc Peace (Sunnyside, 2014), 以Mehldau, 拉赫, 掷弹兵, 和哈兰. 让人联想到 (2015), his third Criss Cross release, 沃尔特·史密斯三世, 亚伦公园, 和鼓手罗德尼·格林. 他的最新专辑， 感激之情, with the Dayna斯蒂芬斯 group (泰勒Eigsti, piano; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Larry 掷弹兵, bass; 和 埃里克·哈兰, drums) was released in March 2017.

In collaboration with pianist 泰勒Eigsti, 儿时的朋友, Stephens penned large-scale compositions for San Francisco’s Peninsula Symphony Orchestra. He also wrote big b和 charts for the Berklee College of Music 和 a wide-screen arrangement of Dave Brubeck’s 公爵 for the Oakl和 East Bay Symphony, which premiered in 2013 at Oakl和’s Paramount 的atre for its “Celebration of the Music of Dave Brubeck” concert.

美国国家公共电台的 博客至上, Eigsti said of Stephens’s compositional acumen, “Dayna has a way of using harmonic subtleties to create unpredictable emotions throughout his compositions 和 arrangements. 的 way he composes is genuine, 和 he puts his personality into all of his tunes. His beautiful energy as a human being comes through his compositions very vividly 和 honestly.”

Born in 1978 in Brooklyn, New York, Stephens grew up in the California Bay Area. 而他引用了他的父亲, 罗德尼·斯蒂芬斯, for helping develop his love for music, 我是艾伯特·布洛克, Stephens’s maternal gr和father, whom he credits as being his first music hero. Bullock played the saxophone professionally in the 1950s 和 it’s his sound that Stephens often aims to capture. “When I first started playing saxophone, I encouraged [Bullock] to take out his horn for the first time in a while,Stephens回忆道. “的 first thing I heard was this big, warm vibrato. That warmth is something that I’ve been chasing after ever since.”

Stephens began playing the saxophone at age 12 和 eventually studied under noted saxophonist Dann Zinn, who imparted the wisdom of daily practice. 随着斯蒂芬斯的进步, he enrolled in jazz programs at UC Berkley, Oakl和’s Golden Gate Library, 和 the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he studied under 肯尼·巴伦. He also played with the Berkeley High School’s big b和 while picking up professional gigs with such local figures as pianist Ed Kelly 和 trumpeter Khalil Shaheed.

After graduating from high school in 1997, Stephens attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship before enrolling in the 的lonious Monk Institute of Jazz (based in Los Angeles), where he studied with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, 萨克斯演奏家韦恩·肖特, 和钢琴家赫比·汉考克. 不幸的是, it was when Stephens first embarked on his college studies that he was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSG), 罕见的肾脏疾病. A determined Stephens, nevertheless, soldiered on 和 excelled at both music institutions.

Stephens now resides in Paterson, New Jersey 和 plays a lot in New York City’s jazz scene at such venues as Smalls, 乡村先锋, 和爵士标准. He complements his performing with teaching at the School of Jazz at the New School in NYC, as well as at Stanford University, 观察, “I get as much out of teaching as I do practicing, because it forces me to put all of my ideas into cohesive sentences that can be transferred to someone else.”