Steve Lehman Trio featuring Damion Reid, Steve Lehman, and Matt Brewer. Photo courtesy of BNatural
Saturday, June 17, 7:30pm
Raisbeck Auditorium
2017 Boren Ave
$10-30
BY MELANIE GRIMES
On June 17, the Steve Lehman Trio will be performing at the new Raisbeck Auditorium venue, featuring Steve Lehman on sax, Matt Brewer on bass, and Damion Reid on drums.
Lehman, a saxophonist, composer, educator, and performer, is known for his work in experimental and transformative musical styles. He is the recipient of the 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award. His large orchestral pieces and chamber ensembles have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, PRISM Quartet, and more. His 2009 recording Travail, Transformation and Flow was selected as The New York Times #1 Jazz Album of the Year. The People I Love was listed as one of the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2019 by NPR Music, Rolling Stone, L.A. Times, and The New York Times. In addition to his Trio, Lehman has performed with Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, George Lewis, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bennie Maupin, Jason Moran, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and High Priest of Antipop Consortium, among others.
In 2012, Lehman earned his Ph.D. in musical arts with a distinction in composition from Columbia University. His thesis paper, “Liminality as a Framework for Composition: Rhythmic Thresholds, Spectral Harmonies and Afrological Improvisation” explores his interest in spectral harmony stemming from the influences of Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail. Lehman’s interest in fusing French spectral music and Afrological forms of improvisation informs his work as a composer and musician. Lehman is currently a professor of music at California Institute of the Arts.
Bassist Matt Brewer comes from a lineage of artists—both his father and grandfather were jazz musicians. He took up the bass at the age of 10 and had his first professional gig by 12, studying with Winston Budrow and Lawrence Hurst. He attended the Juilliard jazz program and studied with bassists Rodney Whitaker and Ben Wolfe, but would eventually leave to tour with Greg Osby, David Sánchez, Terence Blanchard, and many others. Brewer has frequently lectured at the Banff Center in Canada, is an adjunct faculty member at The New School and is the jazz bass instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Brewer is currently a member of the SFJAZZ Collective cohort, as well as Ben Wendel’s Seasons band, and Antonio Sánchez’s Migration project.
Damion Reid is a Grammy-nominated drummer. His father played bass and his mother was an opera singer, exposing Reid to music at an early age. He was later mentored by Billy Higgins and went on to play at Higgins’ club along with Billy Childs, George Bohanon, and others. Reid attended the New England Conservatory of Music and received their Alan Dawson scholarship in 1998 and 1999. Afterward, he was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, since 2019). He then moved to New York to attend The New School where he went on to perform and tour alongside Lehman, Osby, and Bunky Green. Tickets at earshot.org.
