Griffith/Stevens Quartet

Michael Jefry Stevens - piano
MIles Griffith - Voice
Dieter Ulrich - Drums
Peter Herbert - Bass

The quartet has been performing together since 2000 and has released 2 cds (Songbook and Only Love on ARC recordings). We have performed several European tours and are currently booking an upcoming USA tour in April 2014. 

The group features bassist Peter Herbert (Austria), drummer Dieter Ulrich (Switzerland), vocalist Miles Griffith and myself on piano. We perform a mixture of original music and arrangements of jazz standards.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Miles Griffith's musical roots emanate from the Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, A.M.E. and Yoruba ministries. However, he attributes his percussive vocal style to his Trinidadian roots. Both of his parents come from musical backgrounds, emigrating from Trinidad, and they have performed in numerous church choirs and steel bands throughout the tri-state area. Griffith's professional performance career began at the age of six. His first major gig was extra work in One Trick Pony, Paul Simon's biographical movie. At age 11, he became a member of the esteemed Boys Choir of Harlem, which led to extensive touring and performances for the young musician. Further honing his skills, the ambitious young musician was accepted into New York's prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music and the Performing Arts, where his concentration was classical voice.

However, it was in his junior year that he fell with Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk and Billie Holiday. Prior to graduating, Griffith gigged around town with fellow schoolmates, pianist Stephen Scott, alto saxophonist Justin Robinson, drummers Gregory Hutchinson, Taru Alexander and others. During this time, his mainstay was the renowned Barry Harris Workshop where he performed on a weekly basis.

Miles Griffith's non-traditional use of the voice as a percussive instrument, combined with an uncanny harmonic sense has made him a prime choice for many musicians. He's been a member of T.S. Monk Septet, James Williams' ICU and Jack Walrath's Masters of Suspense. Griffith is at the forefront of some of the music's most inventive working bands. "I enjoy working with these guys because they love the music. It is a continual learning process because they all have such different concepts, and in each group I can strive to contribute something new," reflects the vocalist. In the past, Griffith has collaborated with such revered ensembles as the Jon Hendricks' Explosion, Jimmy Heath's Big Band, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Stanley Cowell Quintet and the Bill Saxton Quartet.

In 1994, he played the lead role of "Jesse" in Wynton Marsalis', celebrated Blood On The Fields, the specially commissioned jazz oratorio, which premiered at Lincoln Centers' Alice Tully Hall. Griffith also participated on the recording, which was released on Sony Music in mid 1997 to end Marsalis' Pulitzer Award and Grammy winning world tour. Will Friedwald states, "Miles Griffith shows off the scat technique that made him Wynton Marsalis' choice for the leading role in Blood On The Fields."

Griffith is not only a stellar performer he is also a band leader and record producer. Having four CD's under his belt and his most recent work, Smile Againon Griffith Records, a record label Griffith created. Author, historian and jazz critic Ira Gitler states about Smile Again, "Miles Griffith is a very talented, multi-faceted singer who can croon short and sweet as in "Hello Friend" or, using his voice instrumentally can unleash passionate, informed swing as in his version of Thelonious Monk's "We See." I like Tony's solo on "Autumn in New York" and Miles scatting here combined the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic beautifully. We see and hear. Oo-pa-pa-da!"