Career
In addition to leading his own group Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, Gerald Clayton, and many other contemporaries. Stephens has released five albums as a leader: The Timeless Now (2007), Today Is Tomorrow (2012), That Nepenthetic Place (2013), I"ll Take My Chances (2013), and Peace (2014). Stephens" fifth album, titled Peace, features guitarist Julian Lage, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Eric Harland.
Stephens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Berkeley High School.
He went on to study at the Berklee School of Music and later at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Stephens has been diagnosed with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.