About
Critical Acclaim for “Galactic Diamonds”
• “Exquisite compositions…there is a quest for beauty in his lines that evoke the masters.” - Keyboard Magazine
• ”A collection of little gems.” – All About Jazz
• ”So disarmingly fun, it’s impossible to resist… a good naturedly mix of third stream jazz with a catchy, quirky pop edge.” Lucid Culture
• ”Consistently Engaging.” – Christian Carey, Signal to Noise
• ”…Genius pianist Steve Hudson’s way over the top playing in his rousing number “Determined” were just a couple of the highlights of this super-cool band [Outer Bridge].”
- Cam Fuller, Star Phoenix
Steve Hudson is a pianist and composer based in New York City whose style embraces the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. His latest release,“Galactic Diamonds,” features Hudson’s genre bending compositions for violin, cello, piano, and drums. Other recent albums include, “Mary Joyce Project – Nothing to Lose”and “Baritone Monk” with the Claire Daly Quartet. He tours the US, Canada, and Europe with the Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble, the Claire Daly Quartet, the Outer Bridge Ensemble, and a variety of other groups. Some of the musicians he has shared the stage with include Steven Bernstein, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, Oscar Noriega, Peter Eldridge, Stefano Senni, and Claire Daly.
The Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble bridges and morphs jazz, classical chamber music, tango and folk music into one cohesive and individual sound. The group performs in New York, all around the US, and Europe. The ensemble features Zach Brock on violin, Jody Redhage on cello, Martin Urbach on cajon/percussion, and the leader on piano/melodica. Zach Brock has performed and recorded with Stanley Clarke, Joel Harrison, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, while Jody Redhage currently tours with bassist Esperanza Spalding and has performed with the Tokyo String Quartet, and Bang on a Can. Martin Urbach has shared the stage with Lee Konitz and Dave Liebman.
Hudson is also cofounder of the Outer Bridge Ensemble, a collective of musicians whose experimental yet groove oriented works are featured in the recordings “Seamless” and “The Outer Bridge.” He leads a jazz ensemble that recorded the album “Shine” that featured Curtis Fowlkes, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, vocalist Peter Eldridge and other New York artists. In May 2011 Steve premiered an extended suite dedicated to the Alaskan explorer Mary Joyce with saxophonist Claire Daly at the Juneau Jazz Festival.
Hudson was largely self taught, and learned the instrument by ear and by playing along with Ray Charles and Lou Rawls’ record, thanks to the encouragement and guidance of his teachers James Reed and Jim Ellington. He graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in English literature and divided his love of music with a teaching and writing career.
In his early twenties he met the pianist Barry Harris who introduced him to the world of bebop, and everything changed. Steve threw himself into the world of music and never looked back. He fell in love with an eclectic world of music which included Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Red Garland, Ahmad Jamal, Astor Piazzolla, James Brown, the Beatles, Ray Charles, Bach, Ravel and others. Steve went on to study with Stanley Cowell and Kenny Barron, and earn a graduate music degree from Manhattan School of Music.
PROJECT PERSONNEL:
STEVE HUDSON CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
Jody Redhage or Christopher Hoffman – cello/voice
Zach Brock – violin
Martin Urbach – percussion
Steve Hudson – piano
STEVE HUDSON QUINTET/SEXTET
James Zollar – trumpet
Mark DeJong/Claire Daly – saxophone
Curtis Fowlkes – trombone
Steve Hudson – piano/melodica
Mike Noordzy – bass
Jerome Jennings – drums
OUTER BRIDGE ENSEMBLE
Mark DeJong – saxophones
Steve Hudson – piano/keyboards
Soren Nissim – bass
David Freeman – percussion
Jerome Jennings – drums
