Stein / Smith / Shead Trio

Stein / Smith / Shead Trio is a long-standing working ensemble featuring Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Damon Smith (double bass), and Adam Shead (drums). The trio is dedicated to extended collective improvisation, long-form development, and a deep commitment to listening, allowing form and structure to emerge organically through duration, density, and group decision-making. Their work has been featured in The Wire, Point of Departure, Free Jazz Collective, All About Jazz, The Chicago Reader, and The New York City Jazz Record. Across four albums, the trio has developed a sustained practice rooted in continuity rather than isolated projects, cultivating a shared language that privileges risk, restraint, and structural clarity. This approach is especially evident in their ongoing collaboration with NEA Jazz Master Marilyn Crispell, which has resulted in two acclaimed recordings. The trio has also worked with Roscoe Mitchell, situating their work within a lineage closely connected to the Midwest’s history of creative music while maintaining a distinctly contemporary voice. At the center of the ensemble’s sound is Jason Stein’s bass clarinet, marked by physical engagement with the instrument, an expanded timbral palette, and the ability to sustain narrative over extended durations. Damon Smith and Adam Shead complete the trio with a rhythm section defined by elasticity, precision, and acute responsiveness to subtle shifts in time, texture, and density. Together, the Stein / Smith / Shead Trio creates music that reflects a commitment to exploratory practice, lineage-aware experimentation, and artist-driven music-making. Jason Stein is an internationally recognized bass clarinetist and composer and is among the handful of jazz musicians who play the bass clarinet exclusively. Stein leads the acclaimed trio Locksmith Isidore as well as his own quartet, and he is an indispensable contributor to several of the leading bands on Chicago’s jazz and improvised music scene. Stein has been named on both the Downbeat Critics Poll and the El Intruso International Critics Poll, having won the latter from 2017-2020. Stein’s playing showcases an extraordinary expertise on the bass clarinet, ranging from powerful post-bop lines to ear-grabbing wails in the altissimo range. Stein is based in Chicago and has recorded for such labels as Leo, Delmark, Not Two, Atavistic, 482 Music, Clean Feed, Astral Spirits, Sunnyside, Eremite, and Northern Spy. “Stein is the most emotionally present bass clarinet player since Eric Dolphy.” — THE WIRE “During a career that’s propelled him to the upper echelon of Chicago’s vibrant improvised music scene, Jason Stein is doing for the bass clarinet what Steve Lacy had done for the soprano sax. By looking forward while never losing sign of tradition, he’s modeled himself after the paths of jazz innovators before him to forge his own track.” — SOMETHING ELSE! “Stein has perfected a style of focused yet incendiary sonic exploration.” — DO...