The Art and Soul of Rhythm & Blues

The Jazz Loft @ Southampton Concert Series | Thursday, October 30, 2025 | 7 pm

PERFORMER BIOS

Joy Brown
Joy F. Brown, a native of Newark, New Jersey, was born into a musical family and encouraged by her parents, Ernest and Laura Brown, to find her voice. She received her earliest musical training in the Pentecostal church under the guidance of her father, a singer and musician, and began singing solos at age five. It was there that she developed her lower register, learned to “feel the spirit” of a song, and discovered the power of connecting with listeners through the Gospel tradition of call and response.

Brown attended Newark’s Arts High School, majoring in vocal music under Dr. Carol Fabrini and Dr. Robert Howard, where she expanded her range to four octaves. She continued her studies at Immaculata University, focusing on Music Education and Performance while training in the classical Bel Canto technique with Delores Ferraro. In 2010, she collaborated with WHYY-Philadelphia on their International Film Festival, co-producing and composing the score for The Compulsion to Create, a short film honoring the French Impressionist period.

After moving to New York City in 2016 to pursue jazz, Brown studied with bebop legend Dr. Barry Harris. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2018 as the featured soloist in a concert honoring Duke Ellington’s sacred music and later co-starred in Swinging with Dinah, Bessie, and Fats, written by Broadway legend Linda Twine. Brown has since performed across Europe and South America and at venues including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Casa Cipriani, and The Sag Harbor Jazz Festival.

Miki Hayama
Originally from Kyoto, Japan, Grammy-nominated pianist Miki Hayama began her musical journey studying classical piano at Osaka College of Music before pursuing jazz under Sadayasu Fujii at Fuji Jazz School. After college, she performed in top jazz clubs across Japan’s Kansai region and won first prize at the 1996 Yokohama Jazz Competition.

In 2003, Miki moved to New York City, where she quickly became a respected figure in the jazz scene. She has performed and recorded with an impressive roster of artists, including Kenny Garrett, Ralph Peterson, Sean Jones, Tia Fuller, Michael Dease, Vincent Herring, Roy Hargrove, Gary Thomas, Don Braden, Greg Osby, Mark Shim, Cindy Blackman-Santana, Nnenna Freelon, Jazzmeia Horn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride, Eric Harland, Victor Lewis—and even the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

Her acclaimed recordings include Prelude to a Kiss and Wide Angle, the latter earning Swing Journal’s Gold Disc and Production Awards. Most recently, she served as musical director, arranger, and keyboardist for Nnenna Freelon’s GRAMMY-nominated album Time Traveler.

Beyond her jazz career, Miki expands her artistry by playing Hammond organ at the Greater Cathedral United Apostolic Ministries in the Bronx.

Renowned pianist Kenny Barron praises her as “an amazing young pianist with great chops, a great harmonic concept, and a great imagination.” Miki Hayama continues to inspire audiences worldwide with her expressive artistry and boundless creativity.

Dayna Sean Stephens
A fluid, vigorous soloist with a warm and soulful sound, internationally renowned saxophonist, composer, and educator Dayna Stephens has established himself as a master of composition and arranging, an acclaimed bandleader, and an in-demand sideman for jazz greats such as Kenny Barron, Idris Mohammed, and Taylor Eigsti.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dayna showed remarkable talent early on, earning multiple awards and scholarship offers before accepting a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music. After graduation, he was selected by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Terence Blanchard for the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC, where he studied and performed with Shorter, Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, and Mark Turner.

His 2007 debut album The Timeless Now featuring John Scofield, Taylor Eigsti, Ben Street, Eric Harland, and Nick Vayenas, earned a four-star DownBeat review, reached #11 on the Billboard Jazz Chart, and was named one of NPR’s Top 10 Jazz Jewels of 2007. That release marked the start of an acclaimed discography, including his most recent albums Hopium and Monk’d (2025).

Stephens continues to perform worldwide with leading artists such as Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Carlos Santana, Gretchen Parlato, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Tom Harrell, and Stevie Wonder. With his lyrical sound, deep artistry, and tireless creativity, Dayna Stephens remains a musician’s musician and a true hero of modern jazz.

Darrell Smith
Darrell Smith, DMA (jazz percussion, music director, bandleader, composer, producer) is a jazz percussionist and composer endorsed by Canopus Drums. He has performed at major festivals across the U.S. and abroad, including the Montclair and Newport Jazz Festivals, the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and the Mumbai NCPA Jazz Festival in India.

As a bandleader, Smith has led his original Dal Segno Trio in performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smoke Jazz and Supper Club, The Jazz Standard, and Gotham. As a composer, he co-wrote Interludes, an off-Broadway production featuring New Orleans–inspired music that appeared in both the San Diego and New York Fringe Festivals.

His performance credits also include off-Broadway productions of West Side Story, The King and I, Pearl, and Magdalene. Since 2018, Smith has produced the Staten Island Jazz Festival (Universal Temple of the Arts) and serves on the board of The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook, Long Island. . He has recently started his own non-profit organization, 3 Degrees  to build an arts center on Staten Island. He is currently the Director of Education for Jazz House Kids under the artistic direction of bassist Chrisitian McBride. Dr. Smith serves on the faculties of the New School University and the College of Staten Island, CUNY.

Dean Johnson
Since arriving in New York from Seattle in 1980, Dean has been busy freelancing with a wide variety of artists, including a ten-year association with Gerry Mulligan.

The eclectic array of musicians he has worked with includes Bob Brookmeyer, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Art Lande, Dave Douglas, Lee Konitz, Nguyen Le, Steve Kuhn, Bill Mays, Bill Charlap, Wynton Marsalis, The New York Voices, Jackie and Roy, Roseanna Vitro, Paul Jost, Kendra Shank, and many others. Dean has appeared on over 80 recordings with a diverse range of artists.