Drawing Room Chamber Concert with Jim McCutcheon

Drawing Room Chamber Concert with Jim McCutcheon, guitar

Stacy Dillard was raised in Muskegon Heights, Michigan and studied saxophone at Central State University. He studied with Dr. William Denza, Jim Smith, Chris Berg and Lenard Moses. His first recording was in Cincinnati with trumpeter, Mike Wade. It was a fortunate encounter with Wynton Marsalis over two decades ago in Dayton, Ohio that directed his career to New York. Dillard says that Wynton looked him in the eye and said, “Hey man, this (guy) can play. This MF can PLAY!" They had a long conversation in which Wynton inspired him to leave for New York where he has had the opportunity to play with with Winard Harper, Cindy Blackmon, Lenny White, Norman Simmons, Frank Lacy, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Roy Hargrove, Stephon Harris, Ernestine Anderson, Terrell Stafford, Herlin Riley, John Hicks, Frank Wess, Mulgrew Miller, Clark Terry, Victor Lewis, Steve Wilson, Johnny O'Neal, Antonio Hart, Russell Malone, Lewis Nash, Mark Whitfield, the Mingus Big Band, and a host of others in different genres of music, including Shirley Caesar, Alex Bugnon, Stephanie Mills, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, and more.

He currently leads three bands of his own. cPhyve and cPhour are jazz based bands. His band called The Other Side is R&B/funk/hip-hop oriented.  Stacy is known for large, rich tone and his gutsy approach to the tenor and soprano saxophone. He plays without cliché and is known for his well-developed ideas and technique. He has become an important part of the New York jazz scene.

Joining Stacy at the Hayner are three exceptional musicans. Columbus drummer, Cedric Easton; George Delancey, also from the Columbus, Ohio jazz scene and our host, Keigo Hirakawa on piano.