Becca Stevens
Becca Stevens | |
|---|---|
 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.
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, 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 Attacca Quartet, 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Famous Winston-Salemites: Becca Stevens". The Man Van Blog. March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- American female 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