Bill Stewart (musician)

William Harris Stewart (born October 18, 1966, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American jazz drummer. He has performed with Maceo Parker, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Lonnie Smith, Nicholas Payton, Bill Carrothers, Steve Wilson, Seamus Blake, Larry Goldings and Peter Bernstein, and Jim Hall.

Biography

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

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 jazz legend 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. The young drummer 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 where he quickly built his reputation, first gaining wider recognition in John Scofield's quartet with pianist Michael Eckroth and bassist Ben Street 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, however infrequently the group may be found in performance. Stewart's musical horizons expanded when funk saxophonist Maceo Parker tapped the budding drummer 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 and many other notable jazz musicians have followed.

Musical style

As a drummer, Bill Stewart's playing is distinguished by its melodic focus, and its polyrhythmic, or layered character. To describe someone's drumming style as "melodic" would mean there is a sense that you could "hum along" with discernible linear phrases which tell pieces of a story, akin to a vocalist, pianist, or saxophonist. Stewart's improvisations favor the development and layering of motivic ideas over the raw generation of excitement or display of technical prowess. Stewart has great touch, or dynamic precision, so that his ideas are articulated with an exactness and clarity. He has also achieved a very high degree of independence of his limbs, so that not only the ride cymbal and the snare/toms, but also the bass drum and hi-hat, are free to participate as melodic "first-class citizens." His drumming bears the influence of various melodic drummers who preceded him, including Max Roach, Art Blakey, Joe Morello, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, and Al Foster.

As a composer, Bill Stewart is forward-looking, and seems not to want to repeat what others have already accomplished. In other words, his tunes have a bit of an avant-garde flavor. The melodies, harmonies, phrase lengths, and measure lengths are often altered so as not to conform too closely to traditional jazz language. Some of his tunes (such as "Mayberry") also feature a built-in "free blowing" section, surrounded by a composed "head" (in the case of "Mayberry", a parody of the theme song of the ''Andy Griffith Show''.) The concept of "Mayberry" may have been borrowed from Stewart's long-time collaborator John Scofield, who has written many tunes of the same general shape.

Technique

Stewart, for the most part, plays holding his sticks in a matched grip, favored by orchestral and rock players. This is in contrast to many jazz contemporaries who still prefer the traditional grip.

Stewart grips the stick tighter than most when playing the ride, which helps him to achieve his signature cymbal sound.

As a leader

Stewart has a considerable output as a leader, beginning with 1989's '' Think Before You Think'', with bassist Dave Holland, pianist Marc Copland, and saxophonist Joe Lovano, on which the drummer led a session of originals and standards, including one of his own compositions.

In his next outing as a leader, Stewart assembled trumpeter Eddie Henderson, saxophonist Lovano, pianist Bill Carrothers and bassist Larry Grenadier for an entire record of Stewart compositions, ''Snide Remarks'', which was chosen as one of the top ten jazz CDs of the year by Peter Watrous of ''The New York Times''.

The second Blue Note album to be released under Stewart's name was 1997's ''Telepathy'', featuring Carrothers and Grenadier along with saxophonists Steve Wilson and Seamus Blake.

In 2005, the Bill Stewart Trio, with Kevin Hays and Larry Goldings, released '' Keynote Speakers''. The ensemble is a twist on the usual organ-guitar-drum trio, where a second keyboard (variously piano, Fender Rhodes, and other keyboard instruments) is added to the organ-drum foundation. In December 2006 he recorded '' Incandescence'' with the same trio.

Stewart's recordings all have a certain blend of playfulness and mystery propelled by his drumming and melodic and rhythmic compositional style. Stewart has said that he thinks it very important to find an interesting combination of musicians whose abilities will complement each other and who will sound at home on the compositions slated for the given session.

Gear

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."

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.

Zildjian has also designed the Bill Stewart Artist Series Drumsticks.

Discography

As leader

*''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

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
* 1996 '' Nightwings''
* 1999 ''Mission Accomplished''

With Pat Metheny
* 2000 '' Trio 99 → 00''
* 2000 '' Trio → Live''

With Maceo Parker
* 1990 '' Roots Revisited''
* 1991 '' Mo' Roots''
* 1993 '' Southern Exposure''
*''1995 The Bremen Concert''

With Chris Potter
* 1993 ''Concentric Circles''
* 2002 '' Traveling Mercies'' (Verve)
* 2004 '' Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Sunnyside)

With Jim Rotondi
* 2004 ''New Vistas''
* 2006 ''Iron Man''
* 2010 ''1000 Rainbows''

With John Scofield
* 1990 '' Meant to Be''
* 1991 ''The John Scofield Quartet Plays Live''
* 1992 ''What We Do''
* 1993 ''Hand Jive''
* 1993 ''I Can See Your House from Here''
* 1994 '' You Speak My Language''
* 1994 ''Summertime''
* 1996 ''Quiet''
* 2000 '' Steady Groovin' ''
* 2004 '' EnRoute''
* 2007 '' This Meets That''
* 2015 '' Past Present''
* 2016 '' Country for Old Men''
* 2018 '' Combo 66''
* 2020 ''Swallow Tales''

With Jesse van Ruller
* 2002 ''Circles''
* 2005 ''Views''

With others
* 1988 ''Secrets'' Armen Donelian
* 1990 ''The Wayfarer'' Armen Donelian
* 1990 ''Never Forget'' Ron McClure
* 1990 ''Zounds'' Lee Konitz
* 1990 ''New Friends'' Fred Wesley
* 1991 ''Comme Ci Comme Ca'' Fred Wesley
* 1991 ''Landmarks'' Joe Lovano
* 1992 ''Nighttown'' Don Grolnick
* 1993 ''No Words'' Tim Hagans
* 1993 ''World Away'' Walt Weiskopf
* 1996 ''Forgotten Dreams'' Dave Pietro
* 1996 ''Four's and Two's'' George Garzone
* 1996 ''Groovin It!'' Hank Marr
* 1996 ''New York Child'' Marty Ehrlich
* 1996 ''Shades of Blue'' Bob Belden
* 1997 ''Distant Star'' Bill Charlap
* 1997 ''Here on Earth'' Ingrid Jensen
* 1998 ''El Matador'' Kevin Hays
* 1998 ''Now'' John Patitucci
* 1998 ''Wind Dance'' Dave Pietro
* 1999 ''Hard Luck Guy'' Eddie Hinton
* 1999 '' Time Is of the Essence'' Michael Brecker
* 2001 ''Baby Plays Around'' Curtis Stigers
* 2002 '' Tour de Force'' Nick Brignola
* 2002 ''United Soul Experience'' Wycliffe Gordon
* 2003 ''Dig This!!'' Wycliffe Gordon
* 2003 ''Love Walked In'' Steve Kuhn
* 2003 ''Evolution'' Tommy Smith
* 2003 ''NY1'' Martial Solal
* 2004 ''Nine Stories Wide'' Jonathan Kreisberg
* 2004 ''The Jigsaw'' Stan Sulzmann
* 2005 ''Past-Present-Future'' George Colligan
* 2007 ''Time and the Infinite'' Adam Rogers
* 2008 ''Live at Smalls'' Kevin Hays
* 2009 ''Man Behind the Curtain'' Mark Soskin
* 2013 ''I'll Take My Chances'' Dayna Stephens

References

External links

Drummerworld
– Bill Stewart's ''Drummerworld'' Page


– 2002 Interview with Bill Stewart on AllAboutJazz.com

Bill Stewart Music
- Unofficial Website with discography and interviews

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Bill
1966 births
Living people
Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa
American jazz drummers
Musicians from Iowa
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
University of Northern Iowa alumni
William Paterson University alumni
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Pirouet Records artists