With bassist Joe Fonda he led the Fonda-Stevens Group and recorded several highly regarded post-bop albums.
He was voted “Best Composer of 2016” by readers of the Mountain Xpress in Asheville, NC and was a recipient of a 2017 Regional Project Grant through the North Carolina Arts Council.
Michael has released over 100 Cds and has performed and/or recorded extensively with many of the top names in Jazz, including Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave_Douglas_(trumpeter), Leo Smith, Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, Mark Feldman, Pheeroan AkLaff, Gerry Hemingway, Charles Moffett Sr., Billy Martin, and many others.
His early recordings include "The Mosaic Sextet" on Konnex Record Label (the group featured Dave Douglas, Mark Feldman, Michael Rabinowitz, Harvey Sorgen and Joe Fonda), as well as his first CD release at a member of Mark Whitecage's Liquid Time.
Stevens was an artist in residence for at EMU Conservatory in La Plata, Argentina between 2005 and 2010, and has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark, Sibelius Academy in Finland, University of Michigan, Indiana University, and many other educational institutions in Europe, Latin America and North America.