Steve Cardenas is an American guitarist who began his career in Kansas City, Missouri, before becoming part of the New York City jazz community in 1995. Throughout his career, he has performed with a wide range of leading artists and ensembles, including the Paul Motian Electric Bebop Band, the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, the Steve Swallow Quintet, Joey Baron's Killer Joey, the Ben Allison Band, the John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet, the Jon Cowherd Mercy Project, and Adam Nussbaum's Lead Belly Project. He has also collaborated with Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Paul McCandless, Madeleine Peyroux, Norah Jones, Eliane Elias, and Marc Johnson, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. As a bandleader, Cardenas has released several albums, including Shebang (2000), Panoramic (2004), West of Middle (2010), Melody in a Dream (2013), Charlie & Paul (2018), Blue Has a Range (2020), Healing Power (The Music of Carla Bley) (2022), and New Year (2023) with Jim Campilongo. Alongside his performing career, he has taught at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the California Institute of the Arts, and has led workshops at several international jazz programs. He also co-authored Thelonious Monk Fakebook with editor Don Sickler.
