Millicent Stephenson
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Millicent Stephenson (born 1963) is a British saxophonist, musician, teacher, songwriter and entrepreneur from
Birmingham, United Kingdom Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West Mi ...
. In addition, Stephenson is an entrepreneur, vocalist, music director, professional speaker, record label owner (Silver Gliss Music), and founder and creative director of Cafemnee and Not Just Jazz.


Early years

Millicent Stephenson started piano lessons at age eight. At secondary school she learned the
clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
and played in the school orchestra. She performed in the school Steel Band playing alto and tenor pans. Her love of the
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
began as a hobby when at age 18, the New Testament Church of God was having an open air street march in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. An
alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
was available with no one to play it. She volunteered as a wind player and the leader of the brass section, Rev John Grey, accepted. Following the march she could not let the instrument go, and she borrowed it and practiced.


Career

At around age 22, Stephenson joined
Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...
’s band the Blue Pearl. She was featured in Andy Hamilton's Central TV documentary ''Silver Shine'' by Endboard Productions. Stephenson performs jazz, reggae, gospel, blues and soul with a live band, singers and dancers or solo with a
backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...
. She created her annual show called 'Not Just Jazz' in 2014. She supports charities through her show. She gave the National Caribbean Monument Charity, the opportunity to highlight the need for a Monument in the
National Memorial Arboretum The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and civilian ...
commemorating service men and women of the Caribbean. She also supported Café On The Green which provides meals for people on low income, and SHAPE a women's refuge. Stephenson set up Cafemnee in 2014, to support female musicians, singers, songwriters and producers. Cafemnee featured in
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's ''
Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...
''. Her debut EP was ''This is Life'', launched on her own label Sliver Gliss Music. Stephenson wrote "It's All Good" and was featured on
BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 ...
in 2014 and Ketch A Vibe Radio. "I Will Go On" featured on BBC WM ''Nikki Tapper Show'', and also ''Bed and Breakfast Show'' of Spitfire Radio. Stephenson has also written "My Love", "I'd Be Blue If I Didn't Have You" and "Oh Ageing What A Thing", each has been aired on radio and featured on her album, ''Reflective Notes'' (2016). Her
up-tempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
reggae cover single of
Tamela Mann Tamela Jean Mann (née Johnson; born June 9, 1966) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and actress. Mann began her career as a singer with the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family. She was a featured soloist on several tracks while wit ...
/
Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) a ...
"Take Me To The King" aired on the Gordon West World Wide show in 2019 on Kick FM Radio, an international syndicated station and the song was placed on general rotation. She started a
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
in 2019 called 'Success Beyond The Score' to help musicians and singers who are starting out in the music industry. She is the author of an EBooklet called ''Revealed - 25 Secrets of the Successful Gigging Musician, Singer, Rapper and Spoken Word Artiste''. She wrote the guest blog for the Musicians Union 'Children of The Windrush Generation Make Music'. She wrote the article 'Where Are All The Female Musicians?' for ''Keep The Faith'' magazine. In 2018, Stephenson was a guest speaker for WhiiseCon an International Music Conference. Stephenson teaches saxophone, piano and topics related to the music industry. Stephenson serves on the Midlands Regional Committee and Executive Committee of the
Musicians' Union (United Kingdom) The Musicians' Union (MU) is an organisation which represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the British music business. Royalties The Musicians' Union (MU) Royalty Department, in its current form, was set up in July 2011. F ...
and has served on the Equalities Sub-Committee of the Musicians Union.


Discography

*2012: ''This Is Life'' EP (Silver Gliss Music) *2016: ''Reflective Notes'' Album (Silver Gliss Music) *2018: "Take Me To The King" Single (GLR Records Ltd)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Millicent 1963 births Living people British businesspeople British women songwriters British women educators Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands British jazz saxophonists