Biography
Although well known in the Greater North Jersey Area with a growing New York presence, Asher (alto sax) and Alex (tenor sax) are still in their twenties. The Brothers began their careers at the late, lamented Peppermint Lounge, a famous jazz organ venue in Orange, NJ with a longstanding Tuesday night jam session. There, from the ages of 10 and 13, they met and performed with such greats as Jimmy McGriff and Charles Earland. Frequently staying out late on school nights, accompanied by their father, the Stein Brothers became a fixture on the larger Newark jazz scene.
The brothers began co-leading bands in 2001, when they were both undergraduates at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They have since appeared at the Sarasota, Mackinac Island, and Cape May Jazz Festivals as well as in prime New York City jazz rooms Sweet Rhythm, Smalls, Fatcat, the Kitano and Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center among others. They have toured as part of TS Monk's Sextet and have shared the bandstand with Barry Harris, Lou Donaldson, Slide Hampton and others.
The Brothers have received invaluable guidance over the course of the last decade from Barry Harris, who not only boasts Donald Byrd and Charles McPherson as some of his earliest students, but was also sought out by John Coltrane during a trip to Detroit in the early '60s. Accordingly, they draw their inspiration from Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk – the pioneers of the revolutionary brand of jazz known as bebop. Yet according to David Orthmann of All About Jazz, "the brothers play with a conviction that transcends the imitation of primary influences. Most importantly, they both meet the essential requirement of any real jazz musician—that is, to find and refine one's own voice."
The Stein Brothers' debut CD Quixotic was released earlier this year on the Jazzed Media label; the disc got positive reviews and significant radio play, peaking at #16 on the Jazz Charts.
Members of the Stein Brothers Quintet also include Harlem's Mferghu on piano, Brooklyn's Doug Largent on bass and Queens' Joe Blaxx on drums.
Instrumentation
Alex Stein - tenor saxophone
Asher Stein - alto saxophone
Mferghu - piano
Doug Largent - bass
Joe Blaxx - drums
Discography
Quixotic