After inviting Steve Carrington to sit in on a performance at New York’s renowned Blue Note, the legendary Chick Corea advised him to “Keep that big, beautiful smile and that big, beautiful sound.” The vibrant, full-bodied sound that emerges from Carrington’s saxophone is singularly remarkable—at once old-school and avant-garde. The depth of his interpretation, the confidence in his approach, and his rich, expressive tone make Steve and his music a force that moves the soul.

Featuring:

Steve Carrington – Tenor/ Soprano Sax and EWI
Tommy Lehman – Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Davis Whitfield – Piano and Keyboards
Craig Lee – Bass
Michael Ode – Drums

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Born in East Baltimore, Steve picked up the sax at age seven. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, then went on to graduate from Frederick Douglass High, a school with a rich musical legacy whose alumni include Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake, and Ellis Larkin. He counts John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon and Freddie Hubbard among his early influences.

Steve was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, he studied with saxophonist Bill Pierce, formerly of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. After Berklee, Steve moved to New York, where he played with the Charles Mingus Epitaph, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Milt Hinton, Frank Wess, and Jimmy Heath, among many others. He has sat in and performed with the the likes of the late Elvin Jones, Joey DeFrancesco, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Wynton Marsalis, and Chick Corea. He is close friends with his mentor Kenny Garrett. In a symbolic passing of the torch, Kenny gifted Steve with a saxophone in 2012.

As leader of his own group, Steve has opened for jazz giants Abbey Lincoln, Lionel Hampton, Stanley Turrentine, and Milt Hinton. Steve is the saxophonist and member of Cyrus Chestnut’s African Reflections Band and Cyrus Chestnut’s Quartet. As Of the Past couple of years Steve has been performing with the Legendary Famed Funk/ R&B Group Kool and the Gang as well. Steve has become apart of the Dizzy Gillespie Legacy Bands under the direction of the legendary Bassist and grammy award winning engineer John Lee, who was Dizzy’s longtime bassist. Steve is proud to have released his debut album A Caring Tone on Samech records, which is available on ITunes, Amazon, and Google Play and all social Media Platforms. After returning from European Tour with Kool and The Gang in October 2019 Steve’s released a new record entitled “Mind Traveler”. During the Pandemic, Steve assembled a stellar group of musicians across generations to record and release a new CD released in January of 2023 called “Far Beyond The Horizon”. This new CD includes Cyrus Chestnut (Piano), Freddie Hendrix (Trumpet and Flugelhorn), Mark Whitfield Sr. (Guitar), Corey Wilcox (Trombone), Mark Whitfield Jr. (Drums), Davis Whitfield (Piano and Nord Keyboard), Kenny Davis(Bass), Alexander Claffy(Bass), and Rudy Bird (Percussion).