Based out of Astoria, NY, Steve Kortyka is an accomplished mulit-instrumentalist, composer, educator and full time performer. He is a main member of the Brian Newman Quintet/Quartet, one of NYC’s modern working bands currently holding a residency at The Jazz Club at the Aman hotel. Since graduating from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 2004, he has been a full time performer and musical director in a wide variety of different settings including small group, big band and show band acts.

The Grammy Award Winning albums ‘Cheek to Cheek’ (2014), ‘Tony Bennett Celebrates 90’ (2016) and ‘Love For Sale’ (2021) feature Steve’s arranging work on ‘Firefly’, ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’, ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered’, ‘La Vie En Rose’, and ‘You’re the Top’. His playing is also featured in support of this pop duo powerhouse on several improvised solos throughout these albums including the classic takes on ‘Lady Is a Tramp’ (Tony Celebrates 90), ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ (Cheek to Cheek), ‘Love For Sale’ and ‘It’s De-Lovely’ (Love For Sale).

Under his own name, Steve has released several albums as a band leader and continues to perform in a variety of groups throughout the NYC area and beyond. Although primarily a saxophonist, he is versatile on many different instruments and uses this knowledge to bring something truly unique to every collaboration. Be on the lookout for newly recorded material in the near future as there are always projects in the works.

In 2019 the Brian Newman Band began an ongoing seasonal residency at the Nomad Hotel in Las Vegas. Being in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, this has drawn the opportunity to share the stage with not only some of Las Vegas’ finest performers, but touring titans like Lady Gaga, Ashanti, Robbie Krieger, Emily King, Tennessee Jet, Tim Stewart, Michael Lington (to name a few) and many more of the worlds top performing acts.

In addition to being a full time performer, Steve is also an avid teacher of improvisation and composition. As a teacher in the Better Sax Studio alongside brilliant content creator and saxophonist Jay Metcalf, he has had the opportunity to reach hundreds of students monthly and share his musical expertise first hand on this new and innovative platform designed by Jay. In addition to the BetterSax Studio, Steve has reached thousands by providing educational content on YouTube, Downloadable PDFs, as well as in person and online Masterclasses.