Valley resident Stevens takes sound to Asheville

Michael Jefry Stevens of Black Mountain will play Isis Music Hall Sunday, Feb. 11 in a jazz quartet that features local heavy hitters.

Accompanying him will be Todd Wright on sax, Zack Page on bass and Rick Dilling on drums. The show is at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 door.

Pianist/composer Stevens performs extensively in Europe, Latin America and North America. He has composed more than 340 works for both large and small ensembles.  An active band leader for more than 30 years, he participates in musical ensembles that include the Conference Call Quartet, the Fonda/Stevens Group, the Hungarian Eastern Boundary Quartet and the Generations Quartet” featuring saxophonist Oliver Lake. He collaborates with New Orleans horn man Brian “Breeze” Cayolle and with Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Stevens has released more than 90 CDs featuring his own music and has performed and/or recorded extensively with many of the top names in jazz, including Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Leo Smith, Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, Mark Feldman, Pheeroan AkLaff, Charles Moffett Sr., Dame Evelyn Glennie and Billy Martin. In 2016 he was voted “Best Composer of WNC” by the Mountain Xpress and received a 2017 Regional Project Artist Grant from the Toe River Arts Council.