Stephen Wood Music

Discography

In his ongoing two-decades long career Stephen Wood has forged a unique path as a composer, performer, and educator. Wood’s discography below highlights the breadth of his work across genres, instrumentation, and cultures.

Stephen Wood has released 5 studios albums and one live album all crossing over the classical, jazz, and free genres. Each album engages the entire ensemble in conversation with a musical playing field open for expression.

All albums are available digitally from Stephen Wood directly and on most streaming and download sites. Email Stephen Wood for purchases and information. [email protected]
Payments accepted through PayPal or Venmo.

Cumberland Island Piano Suite (2020)

Live piano performances by Wilderness Composer Stephen Wood.

The Cumberland Island Piano Suite is in honor of the National Park Service’s phenomenal work preserving the wild character and cultural history of Cumberland Island National Seashore. This piano suite was composed for the 2016 CUIS Artist Residency in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of National Park Service. Each song portrays a unique element of Cumberland’s diverse ecosystem and human history. Cumberland Island is a magical place filled with wild dunes, vast beaches, diverse wetlands, maritime forest, and rich human culture. The history of Cumberland Island as we know it is filled with struggle, compromise, and beauty. During my time on the island as Artist in Resident I felt optimistic energy deep in the earth. The spirit of the island lives on her own time helping the dunes stay wild, the forest undeveloped, and a seashore with gentle refuge for turtles.
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Untrammeled (2018)

Music inspired by Wilderness. Where Earth is Free to Live.

The compositions on Untrammeled are inspired by federally designated Wilderness areas where Stephen has been Artist in Resident. Each composition highlights a specific quality, feature, or story the inspirational Wilderness area has to offer the world. Listen to samples of the Wilderness compositions below. The CD cover includes beautiful photos are by Stephen’s amazing wife Lauren Polansky of the Wilderness adventures they’ve taken together.
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The Stephen Wood Ensemble: Inaudible (2010)

Inaudible is an impressive full-length record featuring an orchestrated nonet masterfully improvising over Stephen Wood’s evocative compositions. Wood’s strengths lie in his versatility, attention to nuance, and thorough understanding of many styles and genres – from the classical to contemporary.
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Shadow Man

Intuition

Solitude: A Sweet Absence of Looks

Faces

Urgency

Postal: Theory of Chaconne (2004)

“Hippies beware, and warier still be ye swingsters and fusionites. Postal is here to rescue us from the madness of anachronism, notalgia, and futurism.” – Jeff Wood: writer, actor
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The Meeting

Roll It

Direction: Hyperthecosmos

Direction: Expiremental Fantasy

Direction: Theory of Chaconne

Solitude

Inside Out

Po’ Boy

Toby

Lyle’s Way

Wilderness Society (2014)

Stephen Wood’s Newest Exploration in Wilderness-Artist Connections!!!

Inspired by the scientific theory of Acoustic Niche Hypothesis, The “Wilderness Society” explores the sounds of Urban Wilderness by performing graphic scores representing sonic timelines.

Check out the Live Tracks from Sounds from the Underground Jazz Composer’s Showcase Series!!

Evening

There is a moment leading up to Dusk when sentient beings seem to emanate the tensions of the sun leaving the sky! A crescendo of song, movement, and tension suddenly condenses in the singular sounds of night – Insects!!

Pavement

concrete, asphalt, tar, gravel, rock, dirt….All travelled over by rubber with a constant monotonous rhythm.

The Weed Eaters

Human society has a strange incurable obsession with Weeds! The incessant groove in the air from blowers and weed eaters is about us with out concern.

Urgency

“Humanity has come to a crossroads where we can either destroy the world, or we can create a good future. At this time, there is tremendous doubt regarding the inherent goodness and worthiness of our species. If we draw the conclusion that humanity is not inherently good—that we do not possess inherent wisdom—then what hope can the future possibly hold? In that case, it seems inevitable that the forces of fear and doubt will escalate, creating an internal environment that is detrimental to the human mind and heart, as well as to the external environment.” – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Chlorophyll: A Naturalist’s Quartet (2013)

Chlorophyll: A Naturalist’s Quartet is dedicated to the performance of music inspired by meditations on Plant Life, Earth’s Natural Processes, and our Human Relationship to our Environment.

Radiation and magnetic fields extend from all forms of life producing an energetic quality unique to their species. By understanding and absorbing these qualities, allowance is made to produce musical colors in relation to the unique personalities of environmental beings. As we receive happiness and joy from the aroma of a rose and the sight of a sunflower, we also absorb vibrations produced by those qualities. Vibrations are atomic waves of energy felt, heard, and in extreme cases, visualized by sentient beings. A sound wave is an energetic vibration with pitch, volume, attack, and decay. Energy is a mystical existence that produces vibrations of sustenance essential to all forms of life. Plants are living beings who receive energy, transform energy, produce energy, grow, move, live, and die.

As animals of ego and logic, human beings have developed to a state of extreme disconnect and apathy towards plants as sentient beings, not only as singularly responsible for our total existence, but as brothers sharing life on Earth. Through musical composition inspired by wilderness areas and natural processes, Chlorophyll wishes to participate in a re-ignition of a once existing compassionate awareness between humans and plants.

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