David Baron Stevens

David Baron Stevens (DBS) is an American composer, arranger, musical director, jazz educator, and Unison Saxophone Artist.

He is currently based in Palermo, Sicily, and regularly performs all over the world. DBS has performed in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. He is equally adept and experienced in classical music as he is with jazz and pop, as well as various forms of world music.

As a jazz artist, he has performed with such legendary performers as Steve Allen (author, actor, originator of The Tonight Show), Ed Shaugnessy (Doc Severensen Big Band), Dave Samuels (Spiro Gyra), Pete Christlieb (Steely Dan, Doc Severensen), Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea Electrik Band), Mark Levine (author of “The Jazz Theory Book”), Wayne Bergeron (Maynard Fergueson), to name a few. For more information on collaborations, please see below or click here.

Growing up in California, Stevens began his professional career at age 16 in 1996 and quickly became active in the Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco music scenes, playing jazz in the Central CA, tribute bands in Southern CA, and latin jazz in the SF Bay Area to the north.

DBS spent three years living in Memphis, Tennessee, working with the B.B. King Blues Club as a performer and mastered 150+ songs of the soul and blues repertoire. This had a profound impact upon his approach to performance and is evident today in every note he plays.

His musician theater experiences include performing in the orchestras for the Broadway shows as Beauty & The Beast, Evita, 42nd Street, Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Christmas Story, My Fairytale, and many others. DBS often performs flute and clarinet in addition to saxophone in these settings.

He fell in love with classical music when studying voice at College of The Sequoias, in Visalia, California, and has performed as a Baritone in the chorus for such notable works as Requiem (Mozart), Carmina Burana, and Gloria.

DBS has received training from some of the world’s most prolific artists, such as jazz saxophone legends Phil Woods and Kenny Garrett, and has apprenticed under truly great masters such as Los Angeles saxophonist Jefferey Clayton and New York-based Yamaha Flute Artist Tracy Harris.

He was accepted to The Juilliard School in 2004 for their new jazz program and has received such honors as the Presidential Scholarship from Berklee College of Music in 2005 and in the same year induction into the IAJE (International Association for Jazz Educators) Community College All-Star Band.

Stevens is an experienced educator of over two decades who has assisted many to start careers in music and to be effective in auditions and win awards. As important as such achievements are, he feels that teaching the next generation to love and honor music as he does is the most important goal any teacher can have. DBS has very much enjoyed his role as a Guest Artist & Lecturer at colleges in California, such as Cuesta College of San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield College.

DBS is endorsed by Unison Saxophone of Taiwan and plays a one-of-a-kind, handmade, S300 Series II, modified to his specifications.

This instrument sounds as amazing as it looks and has greatly impressed all who hear and try playing it. This includes many pro saxophonists who are endorsed by companies like Cannonball and Selmer.

After the birth of his child in 2015, David Baron Stevens began to focus more in London, England, and became a regular performer at clubs such as Ronnie Scott's and Jazz After Dark in Soho. Most recently, DBS has been living in and performing all over Palermo, Sicily, and has gladly settled into a most welcoming music scene. Palermo has proven itself to be a home for American jazz musicians, and today’s Palermo is no exception. ​

His most recent project, Evolution aims to expand the accepted jazz canon to include more modern popular songs and some older ones that are less well-known.

David Baron Stevens continues to be a force on the music scene in every country on every stage in which his saxophone sounds.



--Jazz and Blues Artists with which David Baron Stevens has performed:

Steve Alcala (3-2 Latin Jazz Orchestra)
Steve Allen (Legendary Composer, Originator of The Tonight Show)
B.B. King Blues Club All-Stars
Wayne Bergeron (Maynard Ferguson, Los Angeles Trumpet Master)
Pete Christlieb (Steely Dan, Natalie Cole, Jazz Tenor Legend)
Bernie Dresel (Brian Setzer Orchestra)
Chuck Finley (Branford Marsalis)
Dan Gailey (University of Kansas)
Oscar Hernandez (Spanish Harlem Orchestra)
Albert King, Jr. (Son of Memphis Blues Legend, Albert King)
Julian Lage (Gary Burton)
Joe Lenigan (The Statesmen Big Band)
Mark Levine (Author of The Jazz Theory Book, Latin Jazz Master)
Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea, GRP Recording Artist)
Dave Samuels (Spyro Gyra)
Doc Severensen (The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson)
Soho Jazz Knights (London Jazz Quartet)
Wayne Wallace (Pete Escovedo, San Francisco Latin Jazz Master)