Becca Stevens | |
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 Moers Festival, 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | June 14, 1984 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, ukulele, charango |
| Labels | Sunnyside, GroundUp, Universal |
| Website | beccastevens |
Becca Stevens (born June 14, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who draws upon elements of jazz, chamber pop, indie rock, and folk.
Stevens was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the youngest of three children to William Stevens, a composer known for sacred choral music, and Carolyn Dorff, a singer trained in opera and musical theater. During her childhood she performed and toured regionally with her brother, sister, and parents in her family's children's music group, the Tune Mammals. [1] When she was ten years old, she and her mother starred in a year-long national tour of the musical The Secret Garden . [1] [2] After her parents' separation she attended the Peddie School in New Jersey for 9th and 10th grades. [1] [2] She finished high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied classical guitar; at this time she also sang in her brother's jazz rock band, Gomachi. After high school she spent a year working with Gomachi before attending college at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, where she received a degree in vocal jazz and composition. [1] [3] [4]
Stevens has released five albums as a leader: Tea Bye Sea (2008), Weightless (2011), Perfect Animal (2015), Regina (2017), and Wonderbloom (2020). [5] [6] She has worked with Jacob Collier, Laura Mvula, Billy Childs, David Crosby, Taylor Eigsti, Timo Andres, Brad Mehldau, Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra, Michael McDonald, and Snarky Puppy. She was a member of the band Tillery with Gretchen Parlato and Rebecca Martin. [1] [7] [3]
One track on David Crosby's Michael League-produced Lighthouse album featured Crosby, League, Stevens, and Michelle Willis (with Bill Laurance on piano) performing "By the Light of Common Day", a song written by Stevens and Crosby. The quartet became The Lighthouse Band that performed on Crosby's album Here If You Listen . [8]
Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling listed her as one of his five favorite jazz vocalists [9] and music critic Ted Gioia listed her albums Weightless (2011) and Perfect Animal (2015) among the one hundred best albums of the corresponding years. [10] [11]
Stevens's album Regina (2017) was produced by Michael League and Troy Miller and received a five-star review from Down Beat magazine, which called it "the most spectacular of albums", while BBC Radio 2 praised the album saying, "Lyrically, the album is astounding".
She has twice been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals, in 2021 for "Slow Burn" on Wonderbloom and in 2022 for "2 + 2 = 5" on Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet with her co-arranger and husband, the violist Nathan Schram. [12]
Stevens married Nathan Schram, the violist of the Attacca Quartet, on September 2, 2017. Stevens and Schram live in Brooklyn, New York City. Together, they have two daughters (born 2022 and 2024 respectively). [6] [13] [14] [15]
A benefit for "Arts For Life"
With Stevens family and their musical friends in New York and North Carolina
The Jazz Gallery and Habitat for Humanity
Tillery
With Gretchen Parlato and Rebecca Martin
Mirrors
With Gisela João, Justin Stanton, Louis Cato and Michael League
With Jacob Collier
With David Crosby
With Taylor Eigsti
With Brad Mehldau
| With others
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"Misty" is a jazz standard written and originally recorded in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it on July 27, 1954 for the album Contrasts. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on Johnny Mathis' 1959 album Heavenly, and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become Mathis’ signature song.
Rebecca Martin is an American singer and songwriter from Rumford, Maine.
Taylor Eigsti is an American jazz pianist and composer. Eigsti's trio features bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland. He is also a member of Eric Harland Voyager, Kendrick Scott Oracle, and Gretchen Parlato's group.
Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.
Michelle Willis is a British-born, Canadian-raised singer/songwriter and keyboard player. She performs regularly as a solo artist and as a side musician with David Crosby and Becca Stevens. She has also worked with Iggy & The Stooges, Laura Mvula, Snarky Puppy, The Parachute Club, and the Zac Brown Band.
Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has recorded for Atlantic, Verve, and GroundUP and has sung background vocals for Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Snarky Puppy, Celine Dion, Pink Martini, Gavin DeGraw, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, Nikka Costa, and Randy Jackson. She co-wrote Stacie Orrico's Top 40 hit "(There's Gotta Be) More to Life".
Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".
Jo Lawry is an Australian singer and musician. Lawry's debut album, I Want to Be Happy, was released in 2008. Down Beat magazine gave it 4.5 out of 5 and selected it as one of the "Best CDs of the 2000s".
Family Dinner – Volume 2 is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on February 12, 2016.
Jacob Collier is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmonisations and close harmony. He is known for his energetic live performances, in which he often conducts the audience to sing harmony or play percussion parts. Collier demonstrates his harmonic expertise in lectures and master classes, particularly with his detailed analyses of songs like Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" and his own music.
Michael League is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq with keyboardist Henry Hey, and is also an owner and founder of the record label GroundUP Music. League has won five Grammy Awards.
Sky Trails is David Crosby's sixth solo album, released on September 29, 2017, by BMG Music. It is Crosby's third album in less than four years, whereas his first three solo albums appeared over a span of 22 years. Musicians on the album derive in part from Crosby's various 21st Century collaborations. Producer James Raymond and Jeff Pevar were Crosby's bandmates in CPR; Andrew Ford and Steve DiStanislao were respectively that band's touring bassist and drummer. Michael League of Snarky Puppy and Becca Stevens had appeared on Crosby's previous album, and Dean Parks had played on the 2004 album Crosby did with long-time partner Graham Nash.
Forq is an American jazz fusion band from New York and Texas.
GroundUP Music is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, world music, folk, rock, and gospel. The label was founded in 2012 by Michael League as a home for his band Snarky Puppy. The roster of acts on the label has since expanded, with several artists and bands being tied to Snarky Puppy and/or members of that band.
Here If You Listen is an album by David Crosby and his collaborators Michael League, Becca Stevens, and Michelle Willis, who perform on tour together backing Crosby as The Lighthouse Band, and was released on October 26, 2018 by BMG Music.
Bill Laurance is an English composer, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Laurance is a member of jazz fusion and funk band Snarky Puppy, as well as founder and CEO of London-based record label Flint Music.
Talia Pnina Billig, known professionally as Taali, is a Grammy nominated American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She cofounded Rainbow Blonde Records alongside José James and Brian Bender.
The Attacca Quartet is an American string quartet. It was established in 2003 by Amy Schroeder, first violin, and Andrew Yee, cello, while both were students at the Juilliard School. Since 2020 the other members have been Domenic Salerni, second violin, and Nathan Schram, viola. Its repertoire ranges from Classical to contemporary.
Nathan Schram is an American violist and composer. He has won two Grammy Awards out of 3 nominations. He is a member of the Attacca Quartet.
Jesse Alexander Fischer is a pianist, keyboardist, composer, and producer. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. His playing draws on aspects of jazz, R&B, electronic music, and hip-hop, and incorporates both his Jewish heritage and the influences of the African diaspora. He’s been a recipient of multiple grants from South Arts Jazz Tour, and received the ASCAP Plus Award three times.
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