"Up Close & Personal" with Mr. Guitar " David P. Stevens"

A versatile musician, Stevens grew up playing piano, drums and guitar at the Church of God, developing a dynamic performance style playing gospel music. He spent his teens playing in jazz and gospel bands, and developed sound and stage presence like one of his idols, Norman Brown, when he later emerged as an urban jazz artist. As his fan base grew with his early album releases, Stevens went from playing “any dive bar where they allowed jazz” in Philly to top clubs like North By Northwest, Warm Daddy’s and Relish. He and his band also played at various clubs down in Maryland, as well as the Woodrow Wilson Festival and the iconic Blues Alley club in Washington, DC.

Stevens has also performed at The Harlem Meer Festival, at The Iridium in NYC with Alex Bugnon, and the Jazz Base in Reading, PA. Over the past two years, he also did a full European tour through Austria, Switzerland and Germany. In addition to playing on the Capital Jazz SuperCruise, he has been part of the All-Star Jam Festival at Berks Jazz Fest the past three years, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Gerald Albright, Nick Colionne and Scott Ambush from Spyro Gyra. “One of the things I’m known for live is bringing a lot of energy to the stage and incorporating many exciting elements, including background singers,” Stevens says.