Vibraphonist-composer Stefon Harris is heralded as “one of the most important young artists in jazz (The Los Angeles Times).” He is unquestionably developing what will be a long and extraordinary career.
A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, Stefon received a B.M. in Classical Music and an M.M. in Jazz Performance. He is a recipient of the prestigious Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center and has three consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Album including the 2003 release of The Grand Unification Theory (Blue Note), Kindred (Blue Note) and Black Action Figure (Blue Note). Harris.. 2004 recording, Evolution (Blue Note) features his band Blackout and was voted by Jazz Times as one of the Top 50 CDs. His forthcoming 2006 CD combines arrangements of rarely performed Ellington music with an original suite, The Gardner Meditations commissioned by The Wharton Center at Michigan State University. North Sea Jazz (Netherlands) named Harris for the prestigious International 2002 Bird Award for Artist Deserving Wider Recognition. He has been voted Best Mallet player by the Jazz Journalist Association (2005, 2004,2003, 2002, 2001 & 2000), Debut Artist of the Year by Jazz Times and Chicago Tribune, Downbeatís Critics Poll Winner for Vibraphone & Rising Star, Vibraphone (2004) Newsweek..s Best Jazz CD, Best New Talent and 1999-2000 Readers Poll Best Vibraphonist by Jazziz Magazine.
Mr. Harris has performed at many of the world’s most distinguished concert halls, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center, Detroit’s Orchestra Hall, and The Sydney Opera House. He has toured and recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performed his original compositions with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra in Den Hague. An active educator Mr. Harris conducts clinics and lectures worldwide, teaches at New York University and has been Artist in Residence at San Francisco Performances and at the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He has received special commissions from The Wharton Center at Michigan State University (debuting April 2005) and The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, which spawned The Grand Unification Theory (Blue Note).
Harris performs here in a sound check with Greg Osby at the Jazz Standard:
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