Stefon Harris & Blackout
Biography Stefon Harris & Blackout
Stefon Harris
A disciple of Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Stefon Harris belongs to the grand lineage of vibraphonists in jazz. Well known to San Francisco audiences —he was a member of the SFJAZZ Collective from 2007–13 — Harris is a master player, a true virtuoso. Whenever he picks up his mallets, he hovers “over his vibraphone and marimba with hummingbird movements, hands fluttering in a blur across the keys,” says The New York Times.
Recognized as “the real deal” at a young age, Harris performed with Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Buster Williams, Kenny Barron, Cassandra Wilson and many other legends – and made his recording debut as a leader on Blue Note Records in 1998, when he was only 25. Winner of “best vibraphonist” awards in DownBeat and JazzTimes polls, Harris has gone on to become a mentor to a new generation of players, both on the bandstand and in academia. On Sonic Creed, his latest album with his razor-sharp quintet Blackout, the vibraphonist assembles some of the most respected veterans of the current scene, along with several of its fresh young talents. Together they pay tribute to the jazz pantheon — Art Blakey, Abbey Lincoln, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter — while exploring closely related territories: pop, R&B, hip-hop. The album was named Jazz Album of the Year by the iconic New Jersey jazz radio station WBGO.
