Dayna Stephens (born August 1, 1978) is an American

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 ...

saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with

Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...

, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage,

Eric Harland Eric Harland (born November 8, 1976, in Houston, Texas) is an American jazz drummer. In addition to leading his own group, Harland is a member of Charles Lloyd's Quartet, Dave Holland's Prism, James Farm with Joshua Redman, and Taylor Eigsti ...

, and Gerald Clayton. Stephens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Berkeley High School. He went on to study at the

Berklee School of Music Berklee College of Music () is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level ...

and later at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Stephens's albums include ''The Timeless Now'' (2007), ''Today Is Tomorrow'' (2012), ''That Nepenthetic Place'' (2013), ''I'll Take My Chances'' (2013), and ''

Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

'' (2014). ''Peace'' features guitarist Julian Lage, pianist

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, touring and recording while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's quar ...

, bassist

Larry Grenadier Larry Grenadier (born February 6, 1966, in San Francisco) is an American jazz double bassist. Early life Grenadier's father was a trumpet player in World War II army bands and later in Europe but stopped playing professionally before his chi ...

, and drummer Eric Harland. ''

Gratitude Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness is a feeling of appreciation (or similar positive response) by a recipient of another's kindness. This kindness can be gifts, help, favors, or another form of generosity to another person. The word come ...

'' was released in 2017.

Discography

As leader

* ''The Timeless Now'' (CTA, 2007) * ''A Week Ago Today'' (Prophone, 2011) * ''Today Is Tomorrow'' (Criss Cross, 2012) * ''I'll Take My Chances'' (Criss Cross, 2013) * ''That Nepenthetic Place'' (Sunnyside, 2013) * ''

'' (Sunnyside, 2014) * ''New Day'' (Vegamusic, 2014) * ''Reminiscent'' (Criss Cross, 2015) * ''

'' (Contagious Music, 2017) * ''Right Now!'' (Contagious Music, 2020) * ''Liberty'' (Contagious Music, 2020) * ''Closer Than We Think'' (Cellar Live under / La Reserve Records, LLCC, 2024) * ''Hopium'' (Contagious Music, 2025)

As sideman

, ''

Concentric Circles In geometry, two or more objects are said to be ''concentric'' when they share the same center. Any pair of (possibly unalike) objects with well-defined centers can be concentric, including circles, spheres, regular polygons, regular polyhe ...

'' (Blue Note, 2018) * David Berkman, ''Old Friends and New Friends'' (Palmetto, 2015) * David Berkman, ''Six of One'' (Palmetto, 2019) *

Massimo Biolcati Massimo Biolcati (born 1972) is a Swedish-Italian-American jazz bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (s ...

, ''Incontre'' (Sounderscore, 2020) * Gerald Clayton, ''Life Forum'' (Concord Jazz, 2013) * Gerald Clayton, ''Tributary Tales'' (Motema, 2017) *

Joe Cohn Joseph Mark Cohn (born December 28, 1956) is an American jazz guitarist. Career The son of Al Cohn, he started to play the guitar in his teens, transcribing from recordings featuring Art Tatum, Thad Jones, and Clifford Brown. Besides taking less ...

, ''Marathon Man'' (Vegamusic, 2014) * Dan Cray, ''Outside In'' (Origin, 2016) * Jeff Denson, "Outside My Window" (Ridgeway Records, 2019) *

Al Foster Aloysius Tyrone Foster (January 18, 1943 – May 28, 2025) was an American jazz drummer. Foster's professional career began in the mid-1960s, when he played and recorded with hard bop and Swing music, swing musicians including Blue Mitchell and ...

, ''Inspirations & Dedications'' (Smoke Sessions, 2019) * Danny Grissett, ''Remembrance'' (Savant, 2017) * Allison Miller, ''Science Fair'' (Sunnyside, 2018) * Linda Oh, ''Initial Here'' (Greenleaf Music, 2012) * Gretchen Parlato, ''The Lost and Found'' (Obliqsound, 2011) *

Phil Ranelin Phil Ranelin (born May 25, 1939) is an American jazz and experimental music trombonist. Career Ranelin was born in Indianapolis and lived in New York City before moving to Detroit in the 1960s. He played as a session musician on many Motown Rec ...

, ''Inspiration'' (Wide Hive 2004) * Matt Slocum, ''Black Elk's Dream'' (Chandra, 2014) * Paul Zarzyski, ''Collisions of Reckless Love'' (Open Path Music 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Dayna 1978 births American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Berklee College of Music alumni Living people Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Sunnyside Records artists Criss Cross Jazz artists