Nationally-known saxophonist featured in debut of Stephens’ composition

Stephens said he started composing “Trying to be Shorter,” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When CSC had a break between Thanksgiving (2020) and January (2021), that was a great opportunity for me to work on it because everybody else in my household would go off to school. Then, I'd sit down at the piano. I was trying to get inside of some of the compositions of Wayne Shorter, so that's the play on words in the title,” Stephens said.

He said he tried to use some of Shorter’s harmonizations.

“I was trying to create a singable melody and let the harmony provide a lot of interesting context. In some ways, I also alluded to Shorter’s tune Witch Hunt,” Stephens said.

Stephens led the CSC Band’s rehearsals of his composition during the fall of 2022.

“It's a difficult number because there's some double time working the saxophone. We started out working at half tempo and spent time on it. It was a lot of work preparing it. Then, when the opportunity came up with Bobby Watson, I rewrote a part especially for him,” Stephens said.

Watson had high praise for Stephens and the CSC music students he worked with.

“They have a great attitude and are very good listeners. I could tell they want to learn,” Watson said.

Watson said he enjoyed playing Stephens’ composition.

“It's a fun piece. I feel fortunate to have been part of the debut,” Watson said. “Coming here to Chadron State College really drives home for me how important music education is and how many places students are learning across the nation.”