Deeper In Fantasy

Ty Stephens is the consummate performer! He has shared the stage and recorded with such varied notables as HARRY BELAFONTE; PHYLLIS HYMAN; GREGORY HINES; The COMMODORES; EARTHA KITT; ALYSON WILLIAMS;CHERYL 'PEPSII' RILEY; SMOKEY ROBINSON; PATTI AUSTIN; JEFFREY OSBORNE; TOSHI KUBOTA; BABA OLATUNJI; NILE RODGERS; LALA BROOKS (of The Crystals), and, even, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, to name a few! Born January 29th (a proud Aquarian!), and hailing from Philadelphia, Pa. (the same hometown and high school as the famous Will Smith), Ty started in the Fine Arts as a Painter, but put it aside to enter Show Business as a Dancer, trained in Jazz/Modern/ African/Ballet, and some Tap; studied at THE ALVIN AILEY SCHOOL; toured with the ROD RODGERS DANCE CO. and various Revue Shows, and made the transition to Vocalist while on Broadway in the Original Company of 'SOPHISTICATED LADIES'. He continued in theatre on Broadway in 'MARILYN, AN AMERICAN FABLE' and in Europe in 'THE HARLEM STORY', while honing his singing and songwriting craft in local New York clubs and piano bars. Ty has numerous TV and Radio commercials, including MARS BARS; AT&T, K-MART; McDONALD'S; BURGER KING and CHRYSLER, to name but a few. He has also co-written, starred-in, choreographed and costumed for such Off-Off Broadway productions as 'SHADES OF HARLEM' and 'FROM MY HOMETOWN', among others, and he is currently putting the finishing touches on his play, 'HAPPILY EVER...!' MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Ty draws his inspiration from his heroes- the 'classics': Stevie Wonder; Donny Hathaway; Chaka Khan; Al Jarreau; James Taylor; Joni Mitchell, as well as Brazilian composers such as Djavan; Caetano Veloso; Ivan Lins and Gilberto Gil, but the style and talent is uniquely Ty Stephens! 'I find that I love music that is provocative, but not assaulting. I like music that takes you somewhere, makes you feel something deep or profound. It should connect you to your humanness, your beauty, your spirit and challenge you to think and grow'.... 'I find that I write to suit my own taste in music, so it's heavily influenced by the artists I enjoy listening to. So, if Stevie doesn't have a new recording out, I'll find myself writing in his style, or Chaka's or Al Jarreau's... .but, it's still my own style mixed in, so it doesn't sound like a cheap copy of someone else's music, it's still original.' WHO'S GOT 'CHOPS': 'I'm really digging Rashaan Patterson; Rachelle Ferrell; Mica Paris; India Arie; Jill Scott; D'Angelo; Erykah Badu; Carl Thomas; Kelly Price; Eric Benet; Faith Evans, and, quite a few young jazz cats, too, if they get a stronghold on the music market, the future of African-American music is in good hands, in my opinion.' Ty Stephens & ROMANTASY has been presented in concert and command performance for such dignitaries as His Majesty KING HASSAN II of MOROCCO; The Crown Prince MUHAMMED and Prince RASHIID OF MOROCCO; The Honorable First Lady Mrs. SALLY MUGABE OF ZIMBABWE, and Mr. BRONSON McKINLEY the American Ambassador to HAITI, and in such special events as New York's ECOFEST; BLACK EXPO and The ACAPULCO BLACK FILM FESTIVAL GALA. The members of ROMANTASY have performed and recorded with such artists as ROBERTA FLACK; DIANNE REEVES; STANLEY TURRENTINE; ANGIE STONE; HUGH MASAKELA; ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO, NINA SIMONE; NOEL POINTER and NATALIE COLE, among others. Co-Producer JOE SCOTT has toured and recorded with LAURYN HILL; CHICO DeBARGE; HAMMER; BOYZ II MEN and BLACKSTREET, among others.