Steph Richards Power Vibe

"A rising star in avant-garde jazz...a virtuoso of otherworldy sound" (Jazz Times).

Canadian trumpeter Steph Richards has steadily established herself as a committed experimental musician, collaborating with pioneering artist:s in jazz, avant-pop and contemporary classical music, from John Zorn and Anthony Braxton to Laurie Anderson, David Byrne and the Kronos Quartet. Their work is characterized by a curiosity about what sensory variables can be experimented with. The results are often interdisciplinary works that include dance, for example, and are performed in unexpected places such as underwater.

The New York-based trumpeter developed her most recent project, "Supersense" (2020), in collaboration with scent artist Sean Raspet, with whom she developed a series of scratch cards that are included in the album of the same name. The music, however, works without such adjuncts. At times Richards docks with the post-bop tradition, then moves away from it with ease - whether through driving swing or in free, stripped-back sonic figures - while her quartet effortlessly masters the shifts between abstraction and groove. The quartet she brings to Stadtgarten - bassist Stomu Takeishi, drummer Max Jaffe and pianist Joshua White - has recorded the music of "Supersense," but has also been working on new repertoire for several years, seeking to expand and break down the walls of tradition from within without bringing them crashing down.

Originally from Canada, Richards has spent much of her career in Brooklyn, NY. Richards has performed with the Kronos Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Pixies, and Kanye West, and is co-producer of the FONT Music Festival with trumpeter Dave Douglas. She is a member of Henry Threadgill's Kestra and Bang on a Can's Asphalt Orchestra, of which she is a founding member and with whom she has collaborated with St. Vincent, Tyondai Braxton, and choreographer Susan Marshall. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, McGill University, and the California Institute of the Arts, and is an instructor at UCSD.

Her debut album Fullmoon (Relative Pitch Records) was hailed as an "bold announcement" (New York Times) and featured on several "Best of 2018" year-end lists, including Free Jazz Collective's #1 Record of the Year. Steph's "genius" (WBGO) 2019 album "Take The Neon Lights" was highly praised, with NextBop calling the album "hypnotizing... Fans of avant-garde jazz should definitely give it a listen" and was voted Best of 2019 by The NYC Jazz Record Review. Fall 2020 saw the release of their album SUPERSENSE: Music for Scent and Sound (Northern Spy Records) - "unquestionably beautiful...an engaging multi-sensory tableau" (5 stars review, Downbeat).