Steve Lehman (born 1978) is an American composer and

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

in the genres of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. His compositions have been performed by a number of international performers and orchestras.

Early life and education

Lehman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in composition from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and received his Doctor of Musical Arts with distinction in composition from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(under the direction of

Tristan Murail Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the " spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''. Early life and studies Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His f ...

George E. Lewis George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization ...

, Fabien Lévy and

Fred Lerdahl Alfred Whitford (Fred) Lerdahl (born March 10, 1943) is an American music theorist and composer. Best known for his work on musical grammar, Music cognition, cognition, Rhythm, rhythmic theory, and pitch space, he and the linguist Ray Jackendoff d ...

). He also attended classes with

Jackie McLean John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their death. Bio ...

for many years at the

University of Hartford Hartt School The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford, a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since it ...

Career

As a performer, Lehman leads a number of his own ensembles and performs frequently as a sideman with artists like

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

Vijay Iyer Vijay Iyer (; born Vijay Raghunathan, October 26, 1971) is a composer, pianist, bandleader, producer, writer, and professor based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builde ...

, and Jason Moran. His recording ''Travail, Transformation & Flow'' (Pi Recordings 2009) was chosen as the #1 Jazz Album of the year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Lehman’s work has been reviewed in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

'', ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', and ''The Wire'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Lehman was a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

from 2002-2003. Lehman is a professor of Music at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

Valencia, California Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area, west of Interstate 5, is expanding with residential development and already includes major commercial and industrial parks. It stra ...

Awards and honors

* Jazz Album of the Year, ''New York Times,'' 2009, ''Travail, Transformation & Flow'' * Best New Album,

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

Jazz Critics Poll, 2014, ''Mise en Abime'' * Guggenheim Fellowship 2015 * Doris Duke Artist Award 2014

Discography

As leader

* ''Structural Fire'' (CIMP, 2001) * ' (CIMP, 2002) * ''Interface'' (Clean Feed, 2004) * ''Artificial Light'' (Fresh Sound, 2004) * ''Demian as Posthuman'' (Pi, 2005) * ''Manifold'' (Clean Feed, 2007) * ''On Meaning'' (Pi, 2007) * ''Travail, Transformation, and Flow'' (Pi, 2009) * ''Dual Identity'' with

Rudresh Mahanthappa Rudresh Mahanthappa (born May 4, 1971) is a New York-based jazz alto saxophonist and composer. Biography Mahanthappa is the son of Indian emigrants to the U.S. He was born in Trieste, Italy as a result of his father's job in academia, but spent ...

(Clean Feed, 2010) * ''Kaleidoscope & Collage'' with Stephan Crump (Intakt, 2011) * ''Dialect Fluorescent'' (Pi, 2012) * ''Mise en Abîme'' (Pi, 2014) * ''Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone'' (Pi, 2016) * ''The People I Love'' with Craig Taborn (Pi, 2019) * ''Xenakis and the Valedictorian'' (Pi, 2020) * ''Ex Machina'' with Orchestre National de Jazz (Pi, 2023)

As sideman

With

* ''Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000'' (CIMP, 2001) * ''12+1tet (Victoriaville) 2007'' (Victo, 2007) * ''Sax Quintet (Middletown) 1998 Part I'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Sax Quintet (Middletown) 1998 Part II'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Tentet (Antwerp) 2000 Part I'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Tentet (Antwerp) 2000 Part II'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Tentet (Wesleyan) 2000 (Part I)'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Tentet (Wesleyan) 2000 (Part II)'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''Tentet (Wesleyan) 1999 Part I'' (New Braxton House, 2012) * ''Tentet (Wesleyan) 1999 Part II'' (New Braxton House, 2012) * ''Alumni Orchestra (Wesleyan) 2005'' (New Braxton House, 2012) * ''Echo Echo Mirror House (NYC) 2011'' (New Braxton House, 2012) * ''Tentet (Paris) 2001'' (New Braxton House, 2013) With

Liberty Ellman Liberty Ellman (born July 17, 1971) is a jazz guitarist born in London and raised in the United States, beginning in New York City. In the early 1980s, Ellman's family moved to California. Before leaving New York, he attended City and Country Sch ...

* ''

Ophiuchus Butterfly ''Ophiuchus Butterfly'' is an album by jazz guitarist Liberty Ellman, which was recorded in 2005 and released on Pi Recordings. He leads a sextet with Steve Lehman on alto sax, Mark Shim on tenor sax, Jose Davila on tuba, Stephan Crump on bass ...

'' (Pi, 2006) * ''Radiate'' (Pi, 2015) * ''Last Desert'' (Pi, 2020) With others *

, '' Far from Over'' (ECM, 2017) * Jason Moran, '' All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller'' (Blue Note, 2014) *

Kevin Norton Kevin Norton (born January 21, 1956) is an American percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmal ...

, ''Change Dance Troubled Energy'' (Barking Hoop, 2001) * Matthew Welch, ''Ceol Nua'' (Leo, 2002)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Steve 1978 births Composers from New York City American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Wesleyan University alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Living people Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Clean Feed Records artists Pi Recordings artists