Stefon Harris
Biography
Vibraphonist/percussionist Stefon
Harris' auspicious Blue Note debut....
The 25-year-old rising star
recorded and performed with a who's who
of the jazz world, ranging from Wynton
label mates Charlie Hunter and Greg
Osby. He received the prestigious
Martin E. Segal Award from Jazz at
Lincoln Center. And in Down Beat's 1998
Critics Poll, he won the Talent
Deserving Wider Recognition prize in
the vibraphone category. That's
particularly impressive considering
that the classically-trained musician
began his jazz journey only a few short
years ago.
A native of Albany,
New York, Harris started to play the
piano at age 6 and knew how to read
music when he began elementary school.
He played nearly twenty different
instruments -- from string bass to
trombone -- by the time he reached 8th
grade. After seeing the Empire State
Youth Orchestra on television, he
auditioned for the ensemble and was
accepted as the principal
percussionist. A few years later, he
earned a full merit scholarship to
attend Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, where his roommate
introduced him to jazz via Charlie
Parker records. Smitten by the music,
Harris moved to New York City and began
gigging on the jazz scene as a
vibraphone player while finishing his
B.A. in classical percussion at the
Manhattan School of Music.
"Once I committed myself to playing
jazz, I had to make a choice: drums or
vibes," Harris says. "I was always a
strong mallet player so I went with the
latter." That's made all the
difference. As one of the most sought
after jazz vibraphonists today, Harris
has been working non-stop during the
past year. He received his M.A. in jazz
performance from the Manhattan School
of Music, conducted and performed with
the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra,
recorded with Joe Henderson, Charlie
Hunter, Steve Turre, Buster Williams
and Steve Coleman and toured with
Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center
Chamber Music Society (on percussion).
He has composed for and performed with
the African/modern dance troupe Seventh
Principle Dance Company. Recently, he
joined Cassandra Wilson in the studio
for two tunes ("ESP" and "Seven Steps
to Heaven") on her upcoming Miles Davis
tribute CD.
Blue Note Records
|
