Becca Stevens
Becca Stevens | |
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![]() Moers Festival, 2016 | |
Background information | |
Born | Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. | June 14, 1984
Genres | Jazz, folk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, ukulele, charango |
Labels | Sunnyside, GroundUp, Universal |
Associated acts | Becca Stevens Band, Tillery, Jacob Collier |
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.
Early life and education[]
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]
Career[]
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".
Personal life[]
Stevens married Nathan Schram, the violist of the , on September 2, 2017. Stevens and Schram live in Brooklyn, New York City.[6][12]
Discography[]
As leader[]
- Tea Bye Sea (2008)
- Weightless (Sunnyside, 2011)
- Perfect Animal (Core Port/Universal, 2014)
- Regina (GroundUP, 2017)
- Wonderbloom (GroundUP, 2020)
As Tillery[]
- Tillery (Core Port, 2016)
As David Crosby's Lighthouse Band[]
- Here If You Listen (BMG Music, 2018)
As guest[]
- Jeremy Pelt, Shock Value: Live at Smoke (Maxjazz, 2007)
- Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra, Enjoy! (Koch, 2008)
- Sam Sadigursky, Words Project II (New Amsterdam, 2008)
- Taylor Eigsti, Daylight at Midnight (Concord Jazz, 2010)
- Esperanza Spalding, Radio Music Society (Heads Up, 2012)
- Dayna Stephens, I'll Take My Chances (Criss Cross, 2013)
- Ambrose Akinmusire, The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint (Blue Note, 2014)
- José James, While You Were Sleeping (Blue Note, 2014)
- Billy Childs, Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (Sony Masterworks, 2014)
- New West Guitar Group, Send One Your Love (Summit, 2015)
- Snarky Puppy, Family Dinner – Volume 2 (GroundUP, 2016)
- David Crosby, Lighthouse (Groove Masters, 2016)
- David Crosby, Sky Trails (BMG, 2017)
- Brad Mehldau, Finding Gabriel (Nonesuch, 2019)
- Jacob Collier, Djesse Vol. 2, (Hajanga Records, 2019)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chinen, Nate (August 2, 2008). "Influenced by a Variety of Sounds, Becca Stevens's Style Is All Her Own". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Famous Winston-Salemites: Becca Stevens". The Man Van Blog. March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Morrison, Allen (July 2016). "Becca Stevens". Down Beat. Elmhurst, Illinois: Maher.
- ^ "Smartists: Becca Stevens | Amy Poehler's Smart Girls". amysmartgirls.com. March 27, 2014.
- ^ "Becca Stevens album discography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Singer Becca Stevens and Violist Nathan Schram Perform A Duet From Brooklyn". NPR. May 29, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ "Biography – Long Form". tillerygals.com. May 11, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ^ "Michael League: Snarky Puppy's Jazz-Schooled, Grassroots Visionary". All About Jazz. December 10, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
- ^ "NPR Music". Kurt Elling on World Cafe.
- ^ "Ted Gioia". The 100 Best Albums of 2011.
- ^ "Ted Gioia". The 100 Best Albums of 2015.
- ^ Becca Stevens (September 14, 2017). "Wedding Facebook post". Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Becca Stevens. |
- American women jazz singers
- American jazz singers
- Guitarists from North Carolina
- Musicians from Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Peddie School alumni
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni
- The New School alumni
- Living people
- 1984 births
- Jazz musicians from North Carolina
- 21st-century American singers
- 21st-century American women singers
- 21st-century American women guitarists
- 21st-century American guitarists
- GroundUPmusic artists
- Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra members
- Sunnyside Records artists