Thursday, February 20, 2020

DAYNA STEPHENS - LIBERTY


Following up Gratitude (a 2017 collection of songs that served as an expression of deep-seated gratitude for the immense love and support Stephens received while climbing his way back to health after fighting FSG, a rare kidney disease), which was lovingly embraced and lauded by the press and fans alike, Dayna Stephens offers us his ninth album as a leader, Liberty (available Feb 28th). Stephens, a master musician, one of the scene’s leading artists, and most respected woodwind aces, is in full flight on Liberty; free from the grips of ill-health, liberated from the constrictions that a harmonic instrument naturally imposes, able to express himself fully due to his own virtuosity, and unbound to explore the many streets, avenues and alleyways of this music, running lockstep with his more than adept band mates, Ben Street on bass and Eric Harland on drums.

Liberty is a broad term that can refer to many situations, and for this recording it takes on a few meanings. Playing trio as a saxophonist without any chordal harmonic support can be exposing yet very liberating. Making this recording with such masterful musicians as Ben and Eric, who I’ve known and had the pleasure of playing with for close to 15 years in various situations, made exploring rhythmic and harmonic avenues a real unforgettable and fresh creative experience. Capturing it at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, one of the best sounding and most inspiring rooms ever to create music in, just makes this project that much more special.

One important common definition of Liberty says: “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.” It’s tough not to be aware of current events taking or loosing shape within our species. After all is said and done, we are all in so many ways privileged to be a part of a self-aware group of beings. We possess the powerful ability through memory and written language to look back at our past with vivid detail and great emotion, while showing the present moment what worked or not, and what gave us joy and fear. Balancing our multiple unique levels of diversity and world views with the awareness that we are all a part of a global community atop a spinning delicate crumb in space has proven to be a persistent puzzle for our species, leaving me to wonder if Liberty is capable of being one of those vast fields of common ground it once seemed to be. How do we burst these various fortified bubbles of feedback loops that shield us from realizing that we are all looking into the same mirror? If not with Liberty for all then with what?

Upcoming Tour Dates:
  • Feb 26 - Dazzle, Denver, CO
  • Feb 27 - Kuumbwa Jazz, Santa Cruz, CA
  • Feb 28-29 - The Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA
  • March 1 - EarShot Jazz Festival, Seattle, WA
  • April 29 - The Jazz Gallery, NYC
  • May 7 - Sunset Sunside, Paris, France
  • May 8 - Jazz Station, Brussels, Belgium
  • May 9 - Bumhuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • May 10 - Muri Jazz, Muri, CH
  • May 31-June 1 - Tamir Hendelman-Music of Miles Davis
  • Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa
  • July 3 - Saxophone Intensive, California Jazz Cons., Berkeley, CA
  • July 20-26 - Langnau Jazz Workshop w/Gretchen Parlato
  • September 22-28 - The Village Vanguard - Dayna Stephens Quartet
  • December 15-20 - The Village Vanguard - Kenny Barron Quintet




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