Stephen Philip Harvey is a composer, arranger, instrumentalist, label executive, educator and beginning several months ago, a radio host—a kind of superhero of music. He’s also a fan of superhero comics. So when I spoke with him recently, I asked him which superhero he most identifies with.
“There was this villain that was played by Neil Patrick Harris on ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold,’” Harvey said from his office at the radio station. “His name was the Music Meister.” That character used the power of music to achieve world domination.
While Harvey acknowledged that, “that would be a cool power. I’d love that,” his superpower is bringing people together through music, which is what he will do Friday night at BOP STOP and Saturday at BLU Jazz+ when his Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra celebrates the release of its latest album Multiversal: Live at BOP STOP.
The occasion is every bit as meta-versal as multiversal because the recording, released eight weeks ago on Harvey’s own Hidden Cinema Records label, was recorded in March at a concert at the Hingetown club recorded in March at a concert I previewed here.
Going from session to vinyl is five months implies some superpowers of organization and hard work—and those certainly played a part. But as Harvey pointed out “live records you don’t edit a whole bunch. It’s live. There’s no multiple takes. There are alternate takes, but there are no takes to put on top of each other.”
Despite the quick turnaround, there were no shortcuts taken. With two alternate takes, Multiversal clocks in at a generous 77 minutes of music, much of it inspired by superhero lore.
The music is bright and muscular with slashing counterpoint, bold shout choruses and bravura solos by some of northeast Ohio’s most accomplished musicians such as Dan Bruce, Chris Coles, Tommy Lehman and Bobby Selvaggio.
.That’s a Cleveland-heavy (very heavy!) lineup. So add this to Harvey’s superpowers: he is the rare Pittsburgher that loves Cleveland. With “Man of Steel,” he even wrote “Men of Steel,” which he called “a Cleveland piece”.
“It’s written for two dudes from Cleveland for the creation [of what] is their American experience or their version of the American experience,” Harvey said. “It was commissioned by the BOP STOP, premiered in Cleveland by a Cleveland band of musicians.”
“Men of Steel ” was also released as the first single from Multiversal on July 11. If that date rings some bells, it is no coincidence.
“We were mixing/mastering the album and I’m like, man, which could be the singles,” Harvey said. “I had three picked out and I was looking at the dates, and I was like, July 11th sounds familiar. And then I realized that that was the same day as the Superman premiere. and I was like, okay, ‘Men of Steel has to be the first one!”
Apparently, marketing genius might be another of Harvey’s superpowers. But the music always comes first, and Friday’s BOP STOP audience can expect a substantial helping of it. We’re gonna be playing mostly music from Multiversal, but I’m gonna play a couple of pieces from Smash! probably, because I more than likely will have two sets,” Harvey said. “And then I know the exact surprise arrangement that I’m doing. There’s an arrangement of a specific tune from superhero history recently that I know some audience members will like. So I’m very excited about that.”
Multiversal: Live at BOP STOP is available now at this link.
Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra Multiversal album release, Friday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m., BOP STOP, 2920 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, available here.
Saturday, Oct. 26, BLU Jazz+, 47 E. Market Street, Akron, Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, available here.
For the most complete listing of jazz and jazz-adjacent events., look to Jim Szabo’s essential, weekly Northeast Ohio jazz calendar.
NOTE: This article was written by a real human being. No artificial intelligence or generative language models were used in its creation.
Don’t comply in advance,
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