Your new show Jazz Horizons is hot! Your show features new releases from a broad range of jazz influences. How do you find such a variety of music?
This is one of my favorite parts of producing the show. It’s made it imperative that I’m constantly looking for new music! There are a variety of sources like radio promoters, labels, and just friends/colleagues that I know are releasing music. There’s so much music that is released each week, and we get to look at just a sliver of the horizon.
You might be the hardest working man in radio. You direct the music at our three diverse stations, you produce Jazz Horizons, you compose and perform music, and you inspire the next generation of musicians as an instructor at Salisbury University. How do you balance all of those passions?
It is a balance to wear a lot of hats at once. But it comes and goes in seasons. The academic year sees me being able to connect with and educate students, while the summers sees a major decline in that area. All in all, as long as I’m keeping detailed notes, and an organized and highlighted calendar, I can still get these things done and have time for reading, lifting, Dungeons and Dragons, and friends.
When did you become interested in radio?
I’ve always been interested in music journalism: interviewing artists, showcasing their work, reviewing and commenting on it. I started this journey with a podcast called Extramusical during the pandemic. Over a couple years, I got to connect with 26 different musicians and creatives and really wanted to transition to where I was making more content like that. Radio seemed like a natural transition!
What were your earliest musical influences?
My life kind of unfolded in musical eras.
When I was a child, my household was mostly filled with the sounds of Hymns and Spirituals, Gospel, Neo-Soul, Funk, and R&B. So those sounds feel like home. But when I got older, I sought out more hardcore sounds, and that is still part of my musical influences: Hip-Hop, Punk Rock/Pop, Alternative Rock. But through all of this I was maintaining a dual identity as a student musician, playing clarinet and singing in choir. So Western European Art Music has a special place in my heart.
It wasn’t until about 19, that I combined all of these eclectic aural affinities to a passion for jazz music. All in all, each project I do has a different specific set of jazz influences, but each piece has a hodge-podge of influences I’m pulling from within those projects.
We are so excited to have you on board as the Music Director at Delmarva Public Media. How are things going in your first few months on the job?
It’s been an interesting transition from the world of education! Three months in, and I can definitely say I’m getting the hang of things. There are so many things that are different about this compared to being a teacher. (I’ll say I do miss my students.) But I’m so glad to be using all my experience in my jazz career to be bringing new programming to the Delmarva Community. I really think it’s onward and upward from here!
You have released multiple albums, and the latest from the Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra is Multiversal: Live at the Bop Stop (2025). Tell us more about the album.
Yes! This is my second large ensemble album as leader and it was released on August 22 with my label Hidden Cinema Records.
I’m a giant nerd and write big band music inspired by comic books and superheroes. We released our first album, Smash! back in 2022 and this is a follow-up of all original compositions and arrangements. My writing style has been described as cinematic, as I’m trying to create an aural landscape for the stories and heroes that inspire the pieces.
Back in January through March, we crowdfunded close to $7,000 to record these pieces live at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, Ohio on March 29. (Without the 115 people who were part of this campaign, it wouldn’t have been possible!)
I’ve been working on this music since 2022, and it was a great opportunity to get to do the SPHJO’s first live recording. Now, it’s time to get the music to the people! So, I’ve been working on getting the record in indie stores and am announcing tour dates soon. We’ll be performing on the Eastern Shore in February 2026: February 7 at Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD, and February 21 at Chesapeake Music in Easton.
Which is more challenging: producing a studio album or recording a live performance?
Both have their challenges and their triumphs. I’ve done two live recordings and have another one scheduled this fall. There’s an excitement about there being only one take. The live experience is spontaneous and unpredictable. The triumph of live recordings is that you capture that spirit, energy, and interaction. The challenge: you only have one chance. Every mistake is captured. (But I try not to hold on to them too much!)
Recording in a studio is like having a blank canvas and the best eraser possible. You have so many chances and can sort of Frankenstein together the best representation of your music. The triumph is that you can be extremely meticulous and perfect your vision. The challenge: Not waiting for perfect and not losing energy. Hyper-fixating on fixing every mistake because you can and overdubbing and isolating rather than group play loses some of the spontaneity and interaction that comes in the live session.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Stephen! Tune in to Jazz Horizons with Stephen Philip Harvey each Wednesday at Noon on WESM 91.3 FM.