Dayna Stephens at Jazz at Pearl's

contents

jazz

On Wednesday night, December 27, 2006, Dayna Stephens, one of the most exciting tenor sax players and composers in the Bay Area, will play at the Jazz at Pearl's stage in San Francisco's North Beach District. Joining Stephens will be two more young stars from the Bay Area, pianist Taylor Eigsti and guitarist Julian Lage. Over the past several months, these three have played together frequently, and they have evolved the sort of interplay that makes for memorable performances.

Stephens flashed serious talent early on. After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship, he was selected by judges Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Long for the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC. He also got into Julliard, but chose to go west. While at the Monk Institute he studied and played with, among others, Shorter, Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield and Mark Turner.

And while Stephens is not yet as familiar to jazz fans as his two bandmates are, that condition may well soon be changing. Stephens recently recorded his first CD as a leader for CTA records. Featuring musicians including Scofield, Eigsti and Eric Harland, the CD will be released this spring. When that happens, Stephens' talents are sure to become much better known across the country.

Since graduating from the Monk Institute in 2003, Stephens has been splitting his time between his Bay Area home turf and the mettle testing, competitive New York scene. He's performed recently with innovative heavyweights including Carlos Santana, Kenny Barron, Oliver Lake and Josh Roseman. He's been active over the past few months performing with Eigsti, Lage, Peter Apfelbaum, Scott Amendola and a whole host of cutting-edge players both in the Bay Area and New York City.

write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page