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On this episode of the Sounds Visual Radio spinoff series How Deep Is Your Crate, saxophonist/ composer/ bandleader/ educator Stephen Philip Harvey phoned in to talk about his new (and upcoming) releases, Elemental Live and Live at Radio Artifact, and shares some of his favorite LP’s by artists including Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest, Chris Potter Underground Orchestra, Maria Schneider, and Kendrick Lamar.
Saxophonist/composer/bandleader/educator Stephen Philip Harvey leads various ensembles with a drive to explore a vast array of avenues in improvisation and composition, including his wonderful Stephen Philip Harvey Octet (SPH8), heard on the studio album Elemental, and now on the live recording of this music, Elemental (Live).
As a musician and bandleader, Stephen has toured throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. He leads a diverse array of ensembles, including his chordless trio SPH+2, his electric quintet, Sphinx, his mid-sized jazz combo, the Stephen Philip Harvey Octet (SPH8), and his large ensemble the Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra (SPHJO). As a prolific composer and arranger, Harvey has worked with a diverse array of musicians and instrumentations; composing for solo instrument to wind ensemble, jazz combo to large ensembles. His compositions have been performed by ensembles at universities throughout the USA. As an educator, Stephen has held instructional positions at all levels of education in diverse areas of music education. He currently holds positions at Wicomico High School, Salisbury University, and Youngstown State University. Harvey is an alumnus of Youngstown State University (’16, MM – Jazz Studies) and Seton Hill University (’14, BM – Music Education).
To culminate and celebrate the release tour for the studio album, the SPH8 recorded their performance in support of Elemental at Radio Artifact in Cincinnati on June 23, 2023. This exciting evening generated two separate recordings that are slated for release on Harvey’s imprint, Hidden Cinema Records. Elemental (Live) was released May 3, 2024, and its companion recording, Live at Radio Artifact, will be released on August 23, 2024, with dynamic arrangements of tunes by Wayne Shorter and Tim Green, and additional original compositions from this rising-star composer and bandleader.
The music on Elemental (Live) is inspired by the elements of water, air, earth, and fire. Fusing modern harmonies, driving vamps, and myriad textures, Harvey brings these forces of nature through his fertile composer’s imagination, to an aural landscape. Harvey, working from a broad palette, also brilliantly displays his practice of weaving together his eclectic musical history into his compositions, fusing jazz and classical elements with pop, funk, hip-hop, rock, and Gospel. It all makes for a rich tapestry of sound unique to the SPH8, as heard on this recording.
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