Louis Stewart

Louis Stewart (born January 5, 1944 in Waterford , Ireland , † August 20, 2016 ) was an Irish jazz guitarist and composer .

Live and act

Stewart received piano lessons and played guitar from the age of 15 . He played in various show bands and in Jim Doherty's band, with whom he toured the United States in 1961 . He was a member of the trio of pianist Noel Kelahan and a trio with organist Dick Keating and saxophonist Jim O'Reilly and received the special jury prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968 . Immediately afterwards, from 1969, he worked for Benny Goodman for three years . He played in the quartet and the Big Band of Tubby Hayes in 1968/69 , worked as a freelancer in Dublin , where he also composed a lot, and was a member of Ronnie Scott's combos for several years between 1975 and 1979 . In 1975 his first album Louis the First (Hawk Records) was released, which was followed by many more, including with Peter Ind (with whom he played in a duo since about 1978 ), Red Mitchell , Spike Robinson , Bill Charlap and Peter King . In 1979 he toured Australia with Blossom Dearie and Don Burrows , occasionally played with the big band of Harry South and the Scandinavian pianist Per Husby .

In the late 1970s, he began touring (including South America ) and recording with George Shearing . He often played with Stephane Grappelli in the 1980s , but mainly worked as a freelancer with his own quartet and trio. He also recorded with Joe Williams , Carol Kidd , Eileen Farrell and JJ Johnson .

Since 1994 he has played frequently in a trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash ; he also appeared as a soloist . He wrote a number of compositions, including a. the JoyceNotes , inspired by Ulysses by James Joyce , which he recorded at the Nationaltheatret in Oslo . He also performed in Norway and Germany . Stewart had lived in Dublin since the 1970s.

Stewart was a member of Aosdána and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 1998 .

Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
John Chilton Who’s who of British Jazz , Continuum 2004

personal data
SURNAME	Stewart, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Irish jazz guitarist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 5, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Waterford , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH	20th August 2016