Biography

Steve Cardenas's biography

Steve Cardenas took his first musical steps in Kansas City, and he is now an integral part of the jazz community in New York, both for his work on the stage and in the studio. Cardenas has backed up such greats as Eddie Harris, Marilyn Maye, Jay McShann, and Slide Hampton. He has toured Europe extensively, performing at various jazz festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on three separate occasions and the North Sea Jazz Festival four times. He has regularly performed in groups led by such diverse artists as Paul McCandless of the group Oregon, trumpeters/composers Mark Isham and Jeff Beal, bassists Marc Johnson and John Patitucci, as well as vocalists Madeleine Peyroux and Norah Jones. Steve is currently a member of the Paul Motian Octet + 1, Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, a group led by Joey Baron called “Killer Joey”, as well as the Ben Allison Quartet. In addition, he leads his own trio performing at various venues around New York City. Panoramic is Steve’s latest release for Fresh Sound New Talent Records. Along with performing and recording, Cardenas teaches at the New School in New York, where he leads the Thelonious Monk Ensemble and gives private lessons. He was an instructor at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music. In 2003, he was guest faculty at the California Institute of the Arts for the spring semester. Other workshops have included Langnau Jazz Nights in Switzerland, Seda Jazz in Spain and Jamey Abersold Summer Jazz Camps. Also, in collaboration with editor Don Sickler, Cardenas completed work on a book of Thelonious Monk’s compositions. The Thelonious Monk Fake Book marks the premier publishing of all of Monk’s compositions together, with many of them appearing for the first time.

www.stevecardenasmusic.com