About Dexter Story

Dexter Story is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, songwriter, producer, and music director. Named after the jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon, Story was raised in a music-friendly household taking music theory, guitar and piano at an early age and eventually fronting and touring in local Los Angeles bands by age 14. After earning an undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and performing with a diverse array of musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Ernie Watts, John Stubblefield, Slide Hampton, Jeff Narell, Eric Reed and Olivier Gatto, Story also worked in multiple facets of the music industry (from marketing director at Priority, Def Jam and Bad Boy Records to talent buyer at the legendary LA club Temple Bar) enjoying 15 years at the epicenter of popular music culture. Story collaborates regularly with composer/producer/DJ Carlos Niño as co-founder of the breakthrough experimental production team The Life Force Trio and has toured, performed and/or recorded with Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Quadron, Madlib’s Yesterday’s New Quintet, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dwight Trible, Marie Daulne (Zap Mama), Mark de Clive-Lowe, Kelis, Mocky, Sam Barsh, Steve Spacek, The Long Lost (Daedelus’ and Laura Darling’s duet), Build An Ark, Rumer Willis, Kamasi Washington, Gaslamp Killer, Nick Rosen, and Les Nubians among others. He released his debut spiritual soul album “Seasons” in February 2013 on Kindred Spirits featuring a who’s-who of underground and international talent and released his East African-influenced album “Wondem” on Soundway Records in October 2015. His latest and most notable endeavors are music directing Summer 2015’s stellar Wattstax Revisited and Summer 2016’s Soy Africano concerts at Grand Performances, and producing Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recording artist Daymé Arocena’s acclaimed album Cubafonia. Story also works as Artivist in Residence / Event Producer at Community Coalition of South Los Angeles and was recently accepted into the 2017-2019 cohort in APAP USC Leadership Fellow’s Program. He currently lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at dexterstory(@)gmail(.)com. See calendar post for tour and news updates.

• Fellow – APAP USC Leadership Fellow’s Program 2017-2019, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA – June 2017 – January 2019
• Co-Producer / Consultant – A29 Future Fest Commemorating the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising – 81st and Vermont, Los Angeles, CA – April 2017
• Co-Producer – Community Coalition of South Los Angeles’ 5th Annual PowerFest 2016 – Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Los Angeles, CA – September 2016
• Producer – Daymé Arocena ‘Cubafonia’ Album Recording (for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings) – La Habana, Cuba – August 2016 
• Co-Producer / Music Director – Liberty Hill’s ‘Our Nation Awakens’ Music Event – Grand Performances – July 2016
• Co-Producer / Music Director – Soy Africano: The Latin Influence on Music of West Africa – Grand Performances – June 2016
• Co-Producer / Music Director – Wattstax Revisited: I Am Somebody – Grand Performances – June 2015
• Community Outreach Liaison – Ford Theatres Foundation (Los Angeles County Arts Commission) – May 2015 – Present
• Music Director / Arranger / Composer – Wondem Live – The Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA – February 2015
• Co-Producer / Stage Manager – The World Stage 25th Anniversary Celebration – The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood, CA – August 2014
• Music Director / Arranger / Composer – Wondem Premiere Concert – Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, CA – August 2014
• Co-Producer / Music Director – People Get Ready: A Live Soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement – Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA – August 2014
• Music Director / Keyboardist / Guitarist – Kelis US Tour – May and June 2014
• Co-Producer / Stage Manager – The World Stage Presents Jazz Masters Tribute to Kenny Burrell – The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood, CA – August 2013
• Co-Producer / Music Director – Young Gifted and Nina: A Tribute to Nina Simone – Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA – July 2013
• Co-Producer / Music Director – Peace Go With You, Gil: A Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron – Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA – July 2012