unique masterful jazz artistry Dayna Stephens – CLOSER THAN WE THINK: The unity that saxophonist Dayna projects on his new album (releases on April 5th, 2024) is a perfect example of the kind of unique masterful jazz artistry that all true fans of the genre are seeking out. Here’s a live performance of the group (less guest artist Jeremy Pelt on trumpet) did only a month ago (not from the new release)…
If you dug that performance as much as I did, be sure you SUBSCRIBE to the Contagious Music channel on YouTube, where you can enjoy several other performances featuring Dayna… I signed up right away.
In addition to Dayna’s tenor sax and EWI, you’ll also hear Emmanuel Michael (guitar), Kanoa Mendenhall (bass), and Jongkuk Kim (drums)… one of the most penetrating songs I’ve heard (yet) in 2024 is Dayna’s 6:09 original, “The Nomad“; as you might expect from the title, it’s a “wanderer’s” type of tune, but the players are totally focused on their message… I absolutely LOVED this piece, and play it over and over (and OVER) again!
It was one of the shorter pieces, another original from Dayna, the 3:05 “Scrutiny“, that caught my ear immediately… by the end of the first bar, I knew this would be my choice for personal favorite of the eleven exciting jazz excursions that Dayna and his players take us on… if I were a voting member of the jazz review boards, this one would definitely be nominated for (and WIN) awards.
I give Dayna and all his players a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) score of 4.99. Get more information, listen and pre-order are on the Bandcamp page for the album, below.
