Steve Lehman

Steve Lehman is a boundary-pushing alto saxophonist and composer who’s become a defining voice in modern creative music. Known for his razor-sharp improvisation and fascination with spectral harmony, Lehman blends avant-garde jazz with electronic textures, hip-hop rhythms, and academic precision. His projects like *Sélébéyone* – a mind-bending collaboration with Senegalese rapper Gaston Bandimic – showcase his knack for merging global influences with complex structures, while albums like *Dialect Fluorescent* reveal his love for reimagining jazz tradition through a futuristic lens. A former student of both Jackie McLean and spectral music pioneer Tristan Murail, Lehman’s work feels equally at home in concert halls and experimental clubs, earning him a 2014 Pulitzer Prize finalist nod for *Mise en Abîme*. Recent releases like *Ex Machina* and the Jlin-remixed *Cognition* prove he’s still obsessed with where human improvisation and digital innovation collide.

Genres

Free Jazz

Avant-garde

Jazz

Experimental

Hip Hop

Electronic

Contemporary Jazz

Avant-garde Jazz

Nu Jazz

Fusion Music

Post-bop

Related Artists

Vijay Iyer

Kamasi Washington

Robert Glasper

Ambrose Akinmusire

Tyshawn Sorey

Jason Moran

Craig Taborn

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

Mary Halvorson

Pat Metheny

Terence Blanchard

Meshell Ndegeocello

Latest Release

34a

Steve Lehman

Single - Released February 28, 2025