Home » Member Page

Michael Jefry Stevens

72 year old professional jazz pianist/composer/bandleader.

About Me

I was born in New York City in and received my MA in Music from Queens College in 1992 where I studied with Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hanna, Thea Musgrave, Sol Berkowitz and Donald Byrd. I was the Margaret Lee Crofts Fellow at “The MacDowell Colony” in the summer of 2000 and received 2nd prize in the prestigious Monaco International Jazz Composition. I was voted “Best Composer of 2016” in Western North Carolina and received a 2017 Regional Artist Grant.

I was on the faculty of Five Towns College between 1992-95, was head of the keyboard department at the National Guitar Workshop between 1990-2002 in New Milford, CT, was on the faculty of Rhodes College (TN) between 2007-2011 and just recently joined the Music Faculty of Eastern Tennessee State University (2018). I taught every Fall for one week at EMU conservatory in La Plata, Argentina. between 2006-2013. I have been guest clinician and artist in residence at numerous educational institutions both here and abroad including the Royal Academy of Music in Arhus, Denmark, “Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City (Mexico), Arizona State University in Tempe (AZ),SUNY at New Paltz (NY), Lichtenstein Big Band Workshop inEschen (Lichtenstein), Syracuse University (NY), The Universityof Michigan (Ann Arbor), Indiana University (Bloomington),University of Iowa (Iowa City), Northern Illinois University(DeKalb), University of Richmond (VA), and the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA).

I have been and continue to be an active pianist/composer and band leader for the past 40 years. I have released over 100 cds of my original music on numerous jazz record labels includingLeo Records (England), Drimala Records (VA), Soul Note Records (Italy), Konnex Records Germany), Music and Arts (CA), Cadence Records (NY), Red Toucan Records (Canada), GMRecordings (MA), 482 Music (NY), Nottwo Records (Poland) and most recently ARC recordings (USA). Over 100 of my more than 360 original composed works have been recorded and are regularly broadcast throughout the world. My music has been featured in live radio concerts throughout Europe, Japan and North America including BRTN (Belgium), Saarbrucken Rundfunk (Germany), WDR Radio (Germany), Radio Bremen (Germany), Radio Zurich (Switzerland), VPRO Radio Amsterdam (Holland), BRF Radio (Belgium), DanmarksRadio (Arhus, Denmark) and Radio Nurnberg (Germany).

I currently co-lead several working musical ensembles including The Fonda/Stevens Group, Conference Call Quartet, Eastern Boundary Quartet as well as my own trio and small group. I frequently tour both Europe and North America and was a featured performer recently at several international jazz festivals including the Edgefest in AnnArbor (MI), and the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle (WA). I have also performed at the Guelph Jazz Festival (Canada), the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (Canada), Jazzmeille Thuringen(Germany), San Sebastian International Jazz Festival (Spain),Jazz Halo (Belgium, the Kaunas International Jazz Festival (Lithuania, the Bolzano International Jazz Festival (Italy), May Days Festival (Norway) and many others.

I lived in Brooklyn, NY between 1980 and 2002. Lived in Memphis between 2002 and 2011 and currently reside in Black Mountain, NC. I continue to tour, teach and record both internationally and nationally and am currently on the faculty of ETSU in Johnson City, TN.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it is the most free and personal expression of one's self that I have ever come across in my entire life. I was first exposed to jazz through records in high school through a good friend of mine whose father was a classical pianist. The best show I ever attended was Weather Report back in the late 1970's. The first jazz record I bought was Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue." My advice to new listeners is to go hear the music live! This art form requires a relationship between the musicians and the audience which can only take place in a live performance situation.

My House Concert Story

I am artistic director of two house concert series, one in Western North Carolina and another in the Memphis, TN area. The WNC series has been running for11 years. The Memphis house concert series has been running for over 20 years. The next Memphis Jazz Salon will take place on Sunday, September 18. The WNC series is still on hold due to the Covid epidemic.