Stephen C. Washington

American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, one of the first users of the "electric trumpet". Born September 18, 1958 in Newark, NJ, raised in nearby East Orange. At fifteen he toured with his uncle Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks of the Ohio Players during school vacations and had a band of his own with his East Orange High School classmates Mark Hicks and Tim Dozier called Black Satin Soul. Black Satin Soul eventually fused with The Young Mystics (Floyd Miller, Mark Adams, and Tom Lockett), creating the group [[artist:49609]]. In 1981 Washington, [[artist:493458]], [[artist:216465]] from Linden, NJ and [[artist:284075]] departed to form the R&B funk band [[artist:8402]]. In 1983, Washington along side former Slave and Aurra bandmates [[artist:441374]], [[artist:842336]], and former [[artist:76880]] [[artist:107599]] formed the hard funk group called [[artist:165732]]. Together they released one self-titled album ([m=270735]). In 1984, Washington released his first and only solo album called [m=3545017]. After a long hiatus in 2013, Steve, Sheila Washington, A.C. Drummer and Mark Stevens revamped the band Aurra and released two albums, [m=600730] and [m=923733]. He was a frequent collaborator with George Clinton, producing and performing on various Parliament-Funkadelic projects throughout the years. Death announced February 1, 2026.