Facing Illness, An Improviser Learns The Art Of Patience
Public Radio East
Photo: Credit Courtesy of the artist Dayna Stephens.
Such is the case with "Full Circle," an evocative mid-tempo song from his new album,That Nepenthetic Place. He first envelops a luxurious melody within haunting three-horn harmonies; then, when Stephens' solo emerges atop a pneumatic rubato rhythm, it unfurls with elegant poise.
"When I'm playing, I'm really trying to make something new happen. It often happens by playing unintentional notes," Stephens says via Skype from his Paterson, N.J., home on a late May afternoon, hours before he joins pianist Taylor Eigsti at New York's Smalls jazz club for a gig. "I always try to come up with something singable." He says he loves jazz musicians like Miles Davis and pianist Brad Mehldau, who often play in a more languid, pensive manner. "That could be interpreted as being more mature and more patient-sounding," he says.
But Stephens isn't just patient on the bandstand. He's had to amend his approach to playing due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare kidney disease; Stephens has been on dialysis since October 2009.
Dayna Stephens is a patient musician. The 34-year-old tenor saxophonist and composer fashions supple, searching improvisations that brim with melodic cogency. His compositions often exude a widescreen sensibility with languid, narrative-like passages, suspenseful interludes and sumptuous harmonies.
Such is the case with "Full Circle," an evocative mid-tempo song from his new album,That Nepenthetic Place. He first envelops a luxurious melody within haunting three-horn harmonies; then, when Stephens' solo emerges atop a pneumatic rubato rhythm, it unfurls with elegant poise.
"When I'm playing, I'm really trying to make something new happen. It often happens by playing unintentional notes," Stephens says via Skype from his Paterson, N.J., home on a late May afternoon, hours before he joins pianist Taylor Eigsti at New York's Smalls jazz club for a gig. "I always try to come up with something singable." He says he loves jazz musicians like Miles Davis and pianist Brad Mehldau, who often play in a more languid, pensive manner. "That could be interpreted as being more mature and more patient-sounding," he says.
But Stephens isn't just patient on the bandstand. He's had to amend his approach to playing due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare kidney disease; Stephens has been on dialysis since October 2009.
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