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Stephen Gordon & Friends

Stephen Gordon & Friends - Blues Boulevard

Stephen Gordon & Friends - Blues Boulevard

Stephen Gordon & Friends - Blues Boulevard

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Bio

Stephen Gordon

"I fell in love with all the sounds I heard as a child, so I pursued them" says Drummer/Pianist/Composer STEPHEN R. GORDON of Charlotte, N.C. - "Rather it was Gospel music at church, Funk and Motown with my Dad, Rock and Metal with my friends, Swing or European Classical literature with my peers and colleagues - I did it all." From the age of 4 years old, it became apparent that young Stephen would emerge into the world bringing forth sound, art, visual perspectives and living melodies to all that he pursued. Through the piano, taking lessons from the age of 5 with many teachers of different perspectives at the guidance of his parents and family, Stephen began playing the trumpet at age 12, which ventured into all brass, woodwinds, and eventually the drums and percussion. "They wanted to expand the Mass Choir at church, so my Dad and I became the rhythm section - That will always be my favorite rhythm section: Me and my Dad." From traditional and contemporary Gospel music, Stephen began sitting in and eventually gigging around Charlotte as a drummer and a keyboardist. "It was the Swing that I heard that I wanted to pursue. When I saw Terence Blanchard Sextet live at 15 years old, I said - Yeah, that's what I want to do; Swing." This path would lead Stephen to graduate high school from Northwest School of The Arts in Charlotte, N.C. and pursue touring and traveling internationally/nationally. "I got so many opportunities to travel with the choir, that when it came to gigging and touring with bands and my friends, I didn't see a difference; I was still going after that sound." These opportunities would lead to Stephen traveling and living in many different places and playing with some of the musicians and educators pushing the forefront of this music - Ellis Marsalis, Mike Clark, Wayne Henderson, Fred Wesley, Cyrus Chestnut, Donald Harrison, Jr., Bill Summers, Jason Marsalis, Wessell Anderson, Kurt Elling, Aaron Goldberg, Bobby Shew, Steve Turre, Billy Spencer, Delfeayo Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Dick Oatts, Steve Masakowski, Poet Abidune Olyewole (The Last Poets), Tyrone Jefferson - to name a few. Beside playing and touring, recording and teaching have been prospects for Stephen to share in his talents and learn and grow as a musician and as a person. As 11th year musical director for the production "Miles & Coltrane: The Blue Sessions Period." written by OnQ Productions/Concrete Generation/Stephen Gordon (music), Stephen has had the opportunities to work on writing, arranging and scoring for quintet/strings/orchestra. "It's the celebration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, the aspect of them playing together and also what they did separately, that made me want to take on this project in the writing and arranging of paying homage to the greats" Stephen says about the production alongside his good friend of 13+ years, Writer/Director Quentin Talley, Artistic Director of OnQ Productions. As Stephen resides in New Orleans, L.A., you may catch him all over the world on any given day, swinging and grooving. For all info, check out stephenrgordon.com, as well as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram! Stephen R. Gordon uses exclusively - ZILDJIAN cymbals, MAPEX drums, AQUARIAN heads, VATER sticks/brushes, MONO bags and ROC-N-SOC drum thrones.

Stephen Riley

Stephen Riley was born in Greenville North Carolina on November 19th, 1975. Growing up his mother Rhonda Riley was a music teacher (classical voice & piano). At age 4 she started Stephen and his older Brother Jonathan on Violin, both studying the Suzuki method. At age 10 Stephen began playing Alto Saxophone and became very interested in Jazz. He began listening and absorbing the sounds of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, etc..... By the time he reached high school, he was accepted into a school of the arts in Florida (where his mother was on faculty). During this time he made the transition to tenor saxophone. By the time he was 17 years old, he was a winner of the Stan Getz/Clifford Brown fellowship award. Bassist "Rufus Reid" was one of the judges for this competition and invited Stephen to come to William Patterson University, in Wayne New Jersey (Where Rufus was head of the Jazz Department). After a year at William Patterson univ, He moved to New York city, where he was quickly noticed by many highly esteemed Jazz Artists.


Website

https://stephenrgordon.com/

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