Biography

Born on July 4th, 1984, Stephen Gordon was destined for the path of the creative. With a very early love of music and the soundscapes that good music brings, Gordon began piano lessons at the age of 4 years old, after his family heard him take an interest in the piano, and picking out melodies that were just heard in chuch with one finger on his Aunt's piano in her home.  It would be the nuturing of his parents and family to introduce Gordon to music such as Gospel, Rhythm-N-Blues, Motown, Funk, Fusion, Soul, Smooth Jazz - and all of these led to a pure love of the Symphony and of Jazz, Swing and Ragtime.  

“I remember it was the piano, especially when my Uncle J.D. Pone played it, along with a few people playing tambourine, stomping and singing, that created and invited a very spirtiual awakening of Swing.  He was my first piano teacher.  Watching and hearing him play on the Sunday mornings that we would visit my Mother's home A.M.E. Zion church was inspiring, and he could sing too - He was driving the whole choir…”

It would be this driving force alone that pushed me towards recognizing the deepest amount of Swing in musicians and pianist like Art Tatum, Fats Waller, the soulful rhodes playing and singing of Ray Charles, the silk Funk dipped in honey of Herbie Hancock, and the raging, passionate fire of McCoy Tyner - All playing from a well of Blues and Soul, yet strong mastery of melody, harmony and rhythm of the ages.         It would be this way until entering into the 7th grade, Gordon picked up the trumpet, and a whole wave of musical inquisition would begin.  This would take Gordon into the Symphonic and Big Band phases.  After switching majors from Visual Art to Music at the prestigious Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, N.C., Gordon would move into a world of possibilities and achievement, learning and absorbing more music, technical ability, sound and perspective that even still propels him today.

“Man, by 8th grade, I was playing Euphonium in the Wind Ensemble at my school, under the direction of Jerry Lowe.  In this ensemble were some the greatest highschool players I have ever heard before, and even after.  To play in an ensemble is tough already, but the sheer power and mastery that all those students played with - No one could touch us in band competitions, because while the other schools were trying to compete, we were dealing with the sound of this beautiful music…”

It would be that passion for music at a very high level that would propel Gordon into taking chances and jumping out onto the music scene in his hometown of Charlotte at the age of 14.  By 16, Gordon was holding down sideman jobs in the city, as well as working at a music store )which only lasted a year) and then it was gigging full time. By Gordon's 12th grade year in highschool, he was was working 4-5 nights a week on both drums and piano, playing in a range of bands, trios, quartets, and even doing sub work in The Charlotte Philharmonic, while playing in pit orchestras for musical theater productions happening at school, in the city and around the state.  Along with this came auditioning and winning principal positions in All-State orchestras and wind ensembles at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) and also The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).

In 2000, Gordon had already started carving out a will and a path to go to New York City to find some of the greatest players in the world, after hearing trumpeter Terence Blanchard's Quintet at the historic Afro-American Culture Center in Charlotte, N.C., and after highschool, along with his first international travel and tour to Japan, it happened.  At 18 years old, he took that leap, and it payed off greatly.  

“All that music I had listened to, learned and absorbed all my life, became the solid foundation and basis of understanding for me - So when I would get calls to play in multiple kinds of situations as a professional musician, listening was always the biggest part of absorbing for me, as well as having the roadmap to read and see what was happening from an intellectual avenue...”

Gigging life took Gordon all across the world and back, and it would take him to audition and become one of three finalists on piano for a position in the quintet at the prestigious Dave Brubeck Institution at The University of the Pacific in Stockton, C.A., but upon not maing the final cut, Gordon would turn his efforts toward school in Winchester, V.A., at Shenandoah University (Alma Mater of the great drummer, Billy Drummond) in 2003-2004, and continuing to gig in NYC and Washington, DC.  Over the years, Gordon would meet some really great musicians and begin relationships that would last a lifetime, which the music has a beautiful way of creating.  From peers and especially mentors, Gordon values those relationships along the way, and the lessons that he has been passed along.  It would be those very same relationships that would open doors for performances, working opportunities, touring, the honor of being able to begin teaching and continue to travel, being an ambassador of Jazz and Swing all across the world.

All of those endeavors would lead to some of the greatest collaborations and opportunities to tour and play with most of his heroes in the music.  Gordon has played with and recorded with musicians such as Ellis Marsalis, Joey DeFrancesco, The Headhunters, Steve Turre, Donald Harrison, Jr., Bobby Shew, Joe Locke, Cyrus Chestnut, Wayne Henderson, Martha High, Aaron Fletcher, Tyrone Jefferson, Mike Clark, Allen Toussaint, Larry Willis, Wynton Marsalis, Stephen Riley, Eric Reed, Kurt Elling, Joey Calderazzo, Steve Masakowski, Christian Scott, Jason Marsalis, Fred Wesley, Bill Summers, Herlin Riley, Henry Butler, Peter Bernstein, Aaron Goldberg, Delfeayo Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, Roland Guerin, Melissa Reaves, 9th Wonder, Talib Kweli, Maurice Brown, , to name a few.

It is coming up to also the 20 year mark that Stephen Gordon has been teaching. Really getting thrown into it, Gordon figured out some things that would help young students on their own paths in the realm of practice that they can take with them, but also it is lessons from peers and mentors alike, that even to this day, continue to fuel him to continue on the path of mastery and sincerity.  Gordon has been honored to have teaching affiliations throughout the years at many prestigious schools, alongside keeping both a piano and a drum studio open to students of all ages, and players who want to continue taking leaps and bounds into the music they love so dearly.  Some of those affiliations over the years include Queens University (Charlotte, N.C.), Livingstone College (Salisbury, N.C.), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, N.C.), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.), The University of New Orleans (New Orleans, L.A.), New Orleans Creative Center of the Arts or N.O.C.C.A. (New Orleans, L.A.) and many masterclasses across the country and across the world.  Stephen Gordon resides in Charlotte, N.C..

I want to take a moment here to say that I am grateful to The Most High; All praise be to him who guides, teaches and illumines the path - thank you for the universal communion with thee.  To my parents - Most anything that I could say would only be felt beyond words.  Thank you for your choice and relentless pursuit of that choice and love in this life.  Even the greatest lessons learned and realized by you still teach me to this day, and forever remain with me.  Thank you even for the lessons you did not intentionally teach me, they gave me the ability to see.  To my family - We may not have always been in the same places all these years, but I have carried a torch for you with me everywhere I have gone, and when we are together, it is a magic of life that is sustaining beyound measure.  Thank you for teaching me of fellowship, the feast of the spirit.

To my many mentors and colleagues - Thank you all for the domain to grow.  Though there are so many that have gone on to Glory now, their legacies are forever felt here on this plane and carried with us, the least of these being a moment in time, a word, an embrace… For those that have gone on, the world is better for having you here, if only for a lifetime.  For the ones that are still with us - Your lessons continue to teach, long after you spoke them to life.  Thank you for the examples of greatness, patience, growth and relentless pursuit of the truth, maybe even realized clarity.

For all of you who share this path of artistry - Never lose Hope.

Always to the glory of God.  

Blessings always,

Stephen