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Bill Stewart (musician)

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Bill Stewart
Denmark 2011
Denmark 2011
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Harris Stewart
Born (1966-10-18) October 18, 1966 (age 58)
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentDrums
LabelsBlue Note

William Harris Stewart (born October 18, 1966, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American jazz drummer.

Biography

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Bill Stewart's father was a trombonist, and his first and middle names are a tribute to jazz trombonist Bill Harris.[1]

Stewart grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, listening to his parents' jazz and rhythm and blues records without much exposure to live jazz in the then relatively isolated state of Iowa. The largely self-taught drummer began playing at the age of seven. While in high school, he played in a Top 40 cover band and the school orchestra, and went to a summer music camp at Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he met Dizzy Gillespie. After high school graduation, Stewart attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, playing in the jazz and marching bands as well as the orchestra. He then transferred to William Paterson University (then William Paterson College), where he played in ensembles directed by Rufus Reid, studied drums with Eliot Zigmund and Horacee Arnold and took composition lessons from Dave Samuels. Stewart met future employer Joe Lovano while still in college (the two played duets in lieu of a drum lesson when Zigmund was away). Stewart also made his first recordings, with saxophonist Scott Kreitzer, and pianist Armen Donelian, while still in school, and with pianist Franck Amsallem (and Gary Peacock on bass) shortly thereafter, in 1990.

After college, Stewart moved to New York, gaining wider recognition in John Scofield's quartet with pianist Michael Eckroth and bassist Ben Street[2] and in a trio with Larry Goldings and Peter Bernstein, which has become the longest-running group Stewart has played with, having begun in 1989 and continuing to this day, performing infrequently. Stewart's musical horizons expanded when funk saxophonist Maceo Parker noticed Stewart upon seeing him with Larry Goldings at a regular gig at a club in Manhattan. Stewart worked with Parker from 1990 to 1991, touring and recording on three of Parker's albums. The association led to Stewart's gig with James Brown, who told Stewart that there "Ain't no funk in Iowa!" upon learning the drummer's roots. Another close associate is pianist Kevin Hays, with whom he performs, along with fellow WPC graduate, bassist Doug Weiss. The Kevin Hays trio has recorded five CDs and toured internationally. Musical associations with Lee Konitz, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny[2] and many other jazz musicians have followed.

Stewart is openly gay.[3][4]

Technique

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Stewart, unlike the majority of jazz drummers, plays using matched grip.

Gear

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Stewart plays various Zildjian K cymbals and is endorsed by the Avedis Zildjian Company. A collaboration with Paul Francis from Zildjian yielded the 22" K Custom Special Dry Complex Rides (in Thin and Medium Thin weights), which are meant to replicate the sound of an old K Zildjian cymbal Stewart has had for a long time. They were introduced in 2004. According to Stewart, "The K Custom Special Dry Complex Ride has some trashy quality, but can also be articulate. The nice crash sound gets out of the way quickly while a clean stick sound or click is evident when riding. These cymbals are very pretty, yet can be very nasty."[5]

The cymbals were redesigned and sold as the K Custom Dry Complex II Rides since 2008 in sizes of 20, 22 and 24-inch. These custom ride cymbals feature a wider bell with a much lower profile to promote more control while offering a smooth array of rich overtones. Weight specifications are slightly heavier (medium-thin) than the first generation of Complex Rides, to make the cymbals more versatile, providing ride patterns that can be heard clearly from within an airy wash of overtones.[6]

Zildjian has also designed the Bill Stewart Artist Series Drumsticks.[7]

Discography

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As leader

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  • Think Before You Think (Jazz City, 1990)
  • Snide Remarks (Blue Note, 1995)
  • Telepathy (Blue Note, 1997)
  • Catability (Enja, 1998)
  • Drum Crazy (Funky Kitchen, 2005)
  • Keynote Speakers (2005)
  • Incandescence (Pirouet, 2008)
  • Live at Smalls (Smallslive, 2011)
  • Ramshackle Serenade (Pirouet, 2014)
  • Space Squid (Pirouet, 2015)
  • Band Menu (Stewed Music, 2018)

As sideman or co-leader

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With Franck Amsallem

  • 1990 Out a Day
  • 1993 Regards
  • 1998 Another Time

With Peter Bernstein

  • 1998 Earth Tones
  • 2003 Heart's Content
  • 2004 Stranger in Paradise
  • 2016 Let Loose

With Seamus Blake

  • 1993 The Call
  • 2007 Way Out Willy
  • 2009 Bellwether
  • 2010 Live at Smalls

With Bill Carrothers

  • 1993 Ye Who Enter Here (with saxophonist Anton Denner, as A Band in All Hope)
  • 2002 Duets with Bill Stewart
  • 2003 Ghost Ships
  • 2008 Home Row
  • 2010 Joy Spring

With Scott Colley

  • Subliminal... (Criss Cross Jazz, 1998)
  • 2000 The Magic Line
  • 2002 Initial Wisdom

With Marc Copland

  • 1997 Softly
  • 2006 New York Trio Recordings Vol. 1: Modinha
  • 2009 New York Trio Recordings Vol. 3: Night Whispers

With Larry Goldings

  • 1991 The Intimacy of the Blues
  • 1992 Light Blue
  • 1994 Caminhos Cruzados
  • 1995 Whatever It Takes
  • 1996 Big Stuff
  • 2002 Sweet Science
  • 2001 As One
  • 2018 Toy Tunes

With Jon Gordon

  • 1992 The Jon Gordon Quartet
  • 1998 Currents
  • 2000 Possibilities

With Lage Lund

  • 2010 Unlikely Stories
  • 2013 Foolhardy
  • 2015 Idlewild

With Pat Martino

With Pat Metheny

With Maceo Parker

With Chris Potter

With Jim Rotondi

  • 2004 New Vistas
  • 2006 Iron Man
  • 2010 1000 Rainbows

With John Scofield

With Jesse van Ruller

With others

References

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  1. ^ Orr, Timothy (2008) "In Conversation With Bill Stewart" Drum Magazine
  2. ^ a b Brannon, Mike (May 2002). "Bill Stewart Interview". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  3. ^ Schermer, Victor (September 26, 2014). "Outbeat Jazz Festival 2014". All About Jazz. Retrieved July 30, 2023. Stewart, openly gay, minimized the role of sexual orientation in his music and his experience with other musicians.
  4. ^ Stewart, Bill (February 2015). "Episode 24: Bill Stewart". Third Story (Interview). Interviewed by Leo Sidran. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  5. ^ "Bill Stewart", Zildjian.
  6. ^ "Zildjian K Custom Dry Complex II Ride Cymbal", Music123.
  7. ^ "Zildjian Drumsticks|Bill Stewart Artist Series Drumstick". Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  8. ^ Maceo Parker, Roots Revisited-The Bremen Concert, Minor Music Records, retrieved January 14, 2021
  9. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1441. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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