Stephen Haynes & QUARTET [Alan Jaffe/guitars, Mario Pavone/bass. Warren Smith/drums and percussion], TRIO [Joe Morris/guitar & bass and Warren Smith/drums and percussion], DUET [Joe Morris/bass], THE DOUBLE TRIO [Taylor Ho Bynum/cornet, Mary Halvorson & Alan Jaffe/guitars, Tomas Fujiwara & Warren Smith/drums and percussion], STRING QUARTET PLUS WINDS [Rick Rozie, Mario Pavone/bass violins, David Darling/cello, Jason Hwang/violin & viola, JD Parran/alto and ethnic flutes/clarinet.
Influences
Primary: Bill Dixon, Miles Davis. The rest are too numerous to list, and it is worth noting that influence is not limited to genre, media or discipline. If your receiver is well-tuned, influence arrives on multiple levels at any and all times of the day and in life. Surrender and open to receive.
I am an improvising composer, arts advocate and educator; a product of the historic and fertile Black Music Division at Bennington College, directed by Bill Dixon. My early foundational studies were with the wonderful Frank Baird, who chaired the brass department at the University of Colorado's Boulder campus during the sixties and seventies.
My current deep focus is the development of my own music for a variety of ensembles ranging from duo to octet. I am also currently immersed in a range of projects with my mentor Bill Dixon, reconnecting after 25 years.
I am very concerned with the plight of the local artist in his/her hometown and region, and with the importance of well-developed and layered support for those of us who enjoy working close to home and being treated properly.
Over the years I have worked with a range of musicians, with a primary interest in large ensembles and composition: Bill Dixon, George Russell, LaMonte Young, Butch Morris, Rhys Chatham, Bill Dixon, Leroy Jenkins, JD Parran, Earl Browne, Adam Rudolph, Gunter Hampel, Cecil Taylor and the Dells.
