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Stefon Harris
Stefon Harris, heralded as “one of the most important young artists in jazz” by The Los Angeles Times, will perform with his band Blackout on Thursday, March 26, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The 7 p.m. performance, presented by UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, will introduce the ASC’s Jazz Café format, with onstage seating and drinks. Space is limited, so reserve tickets today. Tickets are $59 and $29, with $10 student tickets. For tickets, call the ASC Box Office at 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org. This performance is supported in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Come early for an “Inside the Arts” talk before the show at 6 p.m. that will feature local jazz enthusiasts who will discuss the history of the vibraphone in music, especially New Orleans and Birmingham jazz music.
An educator, vibraphonist and composer, Harris is a four-time Grammy nominee. Harris and Blackout’s album “Sonic Creed” chronicles the story of a people and their time on the planet, according to the artist’s website. It is a reflection of African American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and a sonic manifestation and creed of family, community and legacy. The album explores afresh the music of masters such as Bobby Hutcherson, Abbey Lincoln, Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver.
While at UAB, Harris will lead a clinic and perform on March 26 to kick off the 2020 UAB Jazz Summit, presented annually by the College of Art and Sciences’ Department of Music.
Harris is a seven-time Best Mallet Player by the Jazz Journalist Association, the recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, Downbeat’s Critics Poll Winner for Vibraphone (2015, 2013) and winner of the 2014 Expanded Critic’s Poll for Vibes from Jazz Times. He won a 2014 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album for “Wonder: The Songs of Stevie Wonder” as a member of the SF Jazz Collective. Harris earned a B.M. degree in classical percussion and an M.M. degree in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music. He tours worldwide with his bands Sonic Creed, Blackout and Ninety Miles.
Harris teaches at New York University and is artistic director of Jazz Education at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Harris teaches at the Brubeck Institute through its distance learning program and at the Institute’s Summer Jazz Colony. Harris’ landmark TED Talk, “There Are No Mistakes on The Bandstand,” was the most watched in its 2011 release and has more than 500,000 views.