Robert Stewart (saxophonist)

Early life

Robert Darrin Stewart was born on August 17, 1969 in Oakland, California. His biological father (Robert Stewart III) is a San Francisco Conservatory trained flutist and trumpeter who performed with the famous R&B group The Whispers during the late 1960s, and musical director for the 1950s pop vocalist Bobby Freeman during the 1970s. Stewart's mother (Jackie Mae Syas) was a computer analysts born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His step-father (Clifton Cecil Patrick) was a truck driver and agriculturalist born in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Stewart's mother began teaching him to read from the Holy Qur'an of Islam from the time that he was 3 years old; The Bible (Judaism and Christianity) was his next reading task. Stewart later began to study the other 4 major religions of the world: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Theology was his early foundation.

In the early 1980s, Oakland underwent a metamorphosis; from being the city that produced the greatest and most influential music titans Sly and The Family Stone and The Tower of Power, and such radical social revolutionaries as Huey P. Newton (founder) and The Black Panther Party, to a city that is one of North America's most notorious gang war zones; riddled with crack cocaine, military assault weapons, and drive-by murders. In the 21st century, Oakland remains one of the top 5 most dangerous cites in the United States. Nonetheless, Stewart was able to rise from the flames of this netherworld to become a Phoenix of the jazz idiom.

Stewart's uncle (David Williams) gave him a flute as a birthday gift, and his mother bought a flute method book for Stewart's new toy. He then began to teach himself to read music from this book at 11 years of age. He was a flute soloist for all of his high school and junior high school band years. Playing the flute was merely a hobby for him, for his primary passion was basketball during all of his grade school years. He's 6'4" tall, and played the shooting guard position for the Fremont High School Varsity team (coached by Michael Marcoulis and Sheridan James) during his junior and senior years. He simply played music to get the credit to graduate; no interest beyond this. In fact, he was most interested in Rap music. When not on the basketball court, he rapped under the alias "Mix Master D" and spent his time practicing mixing and scratching albums on stereo turntables. Of course, these activities attracted seedy company in his "hood" (neighborhood). He admits to having to hide his flute in his gym bag each school day, so that his murderous gangster friends wouldn't know that he played an instrument. His high school music teacher (Donald Ramsey) saw the tremendous potential of Stewart, and would harass him daily about playing Jazz. However, Stewart refused to listen to his teacher, and would cut his class regularly in order to play basketball.

The summer after his graduation from Fremont High School, he was surfing his radio for his favorite Rap music station, and stumbled upon an individual playing the tenor saxophone at such a rapid pace it stunned the teenager. This saxophonist was the John Coltrane playing the song "Russian Lullaby." The next song on the station was "All Too Soon" played by tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. The contrast in sound between these two men, playing the same instrument, fascinated Stewart. He then remembered his high school teacher's words and (from that moment in time) his Jazz destiny was set into motion.

After the summer of 1986, Stewart began to frequent jam sessions in the classroom of Oakland - Bay Area pianist Ed Kelly at Laney College. It was there that he met two jazz saxophone titans; Pharoah Sanders and Joshua Redman. He developed a friendship with both of these men. Pharaoh passed Stewart a note during one class session that read: "come to my house tomorrow. I'll help you with your horn." Stewart accepted the offer and the two maintain a brotherly bond to this day. Stewart also frequented neighborhood jam sessions in Oakland, California. He met and performed with many Jazz greats at these sessions including: John Handy (sax), Pony Poindexter (sax), Frank Morgan (sax), Eddie Moore (drums), Buddy Montgomery (piano), Donald Bailey (drums), Smiley Winters (drums), and Wyatt Ruther (bass) to name a few.

Performance career

In 1987, Stewart began leading his own band (The Robert Stewart Experience) at such world renowned venues as Yoshi's and the San Francisco Jazz Festival due to the efforts made by his manager at the time, filmmaker D. Channsin Berry. He also became one of the most sought after sidemen in the Bay Area. His first major sideman gig was with avant-garde saxophonist Chico Freeman, pianist George Cables, and drummer Eddie Moore in 1988. His next sideman gig that year was with pianist Freddie Redd of alto saxophonist Jackie McLean's band. Trumpet giant Wynton Marsalis first met and performed with Stewart at this gig. In 1989, he received a call from "one of the top ten trumpet players of all time" (Donald Byrd) to perform with his group. That same year, he made his first sojourn to New York to perform with Winard and Philip Harper of The Harper Brothers. He also performed there with veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson. In 1990, he went back to New York to perform with composer/arranger/saxophonist and living legend Benny Golson and trombonist Tom McIntosh. He also played with trumpet dynamo Roy Hargrove for the first of many times unto this day. Upon his return to San Francisco, he began working with veteran vocalist Mary Stallings and pianist Merrill Hoover. He also worked regularly with pianist Merl Saunders (of the rock band The Grateful Dead) and bassist Wyatt Ruther of pianist Erroll Garner's band.

In 1991, Stewart received a phone call from a founding father of be-bop and the pioneer of solo drumming (Max Roach) to perform a drum and saxophone duo at U.C. Berkeley. He performed with Max Roach's full ensemble a few months later. Stewart also performed at an award ceremony for another be-bop founding father Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy asked Stewart to perform with his band several months later. In 1992, Stewart performed with jazz legends: McCoy Tyner (piano), Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Milt Jackson (vibes), Billy Higgins (drums), and jazz organ phenomenon Jimmy Smith. Stewart also joined the Los Angeles-based group Black-Note for an eight-month stint, and performed with trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and drummer Brian Blade that same year.

In 1993, Stewart was asked to tour with the New York-based group The Harper Brothers led by drummer Winard Harper. This was his first national band tour. He remained in New York and performed with vocalist Etta Jones, saxophonist Donald Harrison, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, saxophonist Billy Mitchell, trumpeter Doc Cheatham, saxophonist George Kelly, and pianist Chris Anderson.

In 1994, Stewart's regular group in San Francisco included Bay Area pianist and organist Ed Kelly. They would be joined by such world renowned jazz musicians as: saxophonists George Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, Teddy Edwards, David Murray, John Handy, Big Jay McNeely, Hadley Caliman, and vocalist Ernie Andrews. Stewart also performed with blues giant and rock and roll hall of fame guitarist John Lee Hooker often at Jack's (on Fillmore St.) in San Francisco. But, Stewart's highest profile engagement of 1994 came after receiving a phone call from multiple Grammy Award winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to join his newly formed Wynton Marsalis Big Band (known today as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra) to perform the world-premiere of his now historic oratorio "Blood On The Fields" at The Lincoln Center in New York. The other members of this 13 piece all-star band included: Jon Hendricks (vocal), Cassandra Wilson (vocal), Jon Faddis (trumpet), James Carter (sax), Marcus Printup (trumpet), Eric Reed (piano), Herlin Riley (drums), Wycliff Gordon (trombone), Regina Carter (violin) to name a few. The two night engagement was hosted by Ed Bradley of 60 minutes. The engagements received rave reviews, and eventually won Wynton the esteemed Pulitzer Prize. Stewart remained a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra from 1994 to 1998. He received his first international touring experience with this band. By the end of 1994, Stewart began touring nationally under his own name. He also met and performed with his second great mentor (after Phaorah Sanders); jazz fusion innovator The Electrifying Eddie Harris.

From 1995 to 1997, Stewart performed with saxophonist Branford Marsalis, pianists Kenny Kirkland and Marcus Roberts, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist Ray Drummond, Kirk Hammett (lead guitarist for the rock group "Metallica"), Billie Joe Armstrong (founder of the rock band "Green Day"), drummer Zigaboo Modeliste (founding member of the Funk band "The Meters"), and with vocalist Les McCann and the "pound-for-pound best jazz singer on the planet" Jon Hendricks inside Alcatraz Island Penitentiary in 1997.

From 1998 to 1999, Stewart performed with pianist Barry Harris and Horace Tapscott, avant-garde saxophonist Sonny Simmons, and drum titan Billy Higgins in a series of live concerts for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. His most prestigious performance was with guitarist Patrick Greene for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton at a Democratic Fund Raiser in Woodside, California in 1998.

From 2000 to the present, Stewart has performed with famous musicians of many music genres including: saxophonists Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, and Bobby Watson, Joe Lovano, David Sanchez, Lew Tabackin, drummers Marcus Bailor (of the Yellowjackets), Victor Lewis (of the Stan Getz Band), Terri Lyne Carrington (of the Arsenio Hall Show), Ralph Penland (of Herbie Hancock's band), keyboardists Greg Phillinganes (of Michael Jackson's band), Felton Pilate (leader of the funk band Confunkshun), Benny Green, vocalist Lenny Williams (lead vocalist of Tower of Power), and organists Rhoda Scott, Trudy Pitts, and Chester Thompson (of Tower of Power and Santana).

Recording career

In 1994, Stewart recorded the first album of his career (Judgement) in Los Angeles for World Stage Records at the behest of drummer Billy Higgins who owned the label. The recording featured Billy Higgins, pianist Eric Reed, and bassist Mark Shelby. The debut recording for the 24 year old received rave reviews from the jazz world. Jazz writer Scott Yanow of All Music Guide and L.A. Jazz Scene wrote: "Tenor saxophonist Robert Stewart's debut release is quite unusual. Rarely have I heard a young player sound so laid back and relaxed. Even on the up-tempo tunes, Stewart is often content to emphasize his warm tone and to hold long notes, taking his time to get his message across. Fortunately, he does have something of his own to say, so listeners more used to young turks forcing out as many notes as possible will at first go through a bit of culture shock before warming up to this admirable effort."

In that same year, Stewart met his manager Dennis Sullivan who also managed the Los Angeles jazz group Black-Note. Dennis asked Italian record producer Sergio Veschi (founder and owner of Red Records of Italy) to sign Stewart. They reached an agreement to do one record entitled Beautiful Love Ballads (originally titled Beautiful Love). Although it was recorded in 1994, it wasn't released until 1998. This recording was also well received by jazz critics; one even described Stewart as "the most lyrical and melodic saxophone improviser of his generation."

In 1995, Stewart met jazz enthusiast Craig Morton who became his new manager. Morton convinced Quincy Jones (the producer of the best selling album of all time - Michael Jackson's Thriller) and his record label president Jim Swindel, to sign Stewart to his Qwest/Warner Bros. label. Stewart's first album for Quincy Jones was entitled In The Gutta. Saxophone legend Dave Liebman took a blindfold test for JazzTimes magazine. Stewart's recording was played, and Liebman swore that Stewart was the famous R&B tenor-man Red Prysock or Sam "The Man" Taylor from Cab Calloway's Big Band. When Liebman saw Stewart's album cover and learned that he was a mere 26 years old, Liebman's response was: "Well the guy's amazing. He sounds like an old cat. You put it on and I thought, this cat's got to be 60 years old. He's beautiful."

In 1996, Stewart became the first Jazz instrumentalist in music history to have recorded the opening chapter of The Holy Qur'an (the sacred scripture of Islam) in music form. The aforementioned track is entitled "Al-Fatihah" (English: The Opening), and the entire album is entitled The Force. Stewart's second record for Quincy Jones' Qwest Records received critical acclaim in the jazz world, for it featured three of the giants of modern jazz: drum icon Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist Reginald "Swing-Doom" Veal, and piano elder statesman Ed Kelly. Esteemed veteran Jazz critic Philip Elwood (of the San Francisco Examiner) wrote: "One doesn't just listen to Stewart's music, one absorbs it." Jazz solo drum founding father Max Roach relays an identical sentiment: "You don't just hear Robert, you FEEL him." Perhaps the most significant of that which has been stated about Stewart (as opposed to other players of his generation) is that he possesses his own unique - distinctive sound. Jazz writer Ezra Gale of the prestigious "Jazz Times Magazine" has stated that Stewart has achieved an intense and personal sound; his solos are remarkably inventive.

In 2000, following the disbanding of the Qwest/Warner Bros. record label by Quincy Jones, Stewart recorded another album for Red Records entitled Nat The Cat. This tribute to the vocal icon Nat "King" Cole is the most unique of its kind. Stewart has the uncanny ability to transcend mere notes and chords to create "moods" according to Jazz music critic C. Michael Bailey of AllAboutJazz.com. He unconditionally recommends this perfect "mood disc" to all of his readers.

In 2002, Stewart signed for one record with Exodus Records of Los Angeles entitled The Movement. The recording is historic for the fact that it was the first reuniting of John Coltrane's original band members (drum legend Billy Higgins and bass legend Dr. Art Davis) since the early 1960s. This live recording also featured bass founding father Al Mckibbon (of Dizzy Gillespie's band) and stalwart drummer Larance Marable (of Charlie Parker's band). This record is also the final band recording of the most recorded drummer in Jazz history, Billy Higgins. Billy wrote in the liner notes that Robert Stewart (dubbed "The Reverend" by Wynton Marsalis and his peers) reminded him of John Coltrane himself, and Dexter Gordon. He went on to say that The Reverend (Robert) is "one of the most important artists of his generation and a leader of the new revolution in Jazz."

In 2003, Stewart signed for one album with Nagel-Heyer Records of Germany entitled Heaven and Earth. This was essentially a "smooth jazz" record, and five of the thirteen songs feature Stewart's lyric writing ability. He also makes his debut as a drummer on the final track entitled "Peace Within." The music and lyrics on this album invite one to an elevated spiritual consciousness which is revolutionary in the "smooth jazz" idiom. Jazz writer Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. of Allmusic.com eloquently relays this sentiment by stating that there is a positive social message that runs through the songs ("Resolution" and "Peace Within"), and Stewart has found a way to combine new age politics with new age music, creating a hybrid.

In 2006, Stewart released a series of live recordings on Armageddon Records; a label which he co-owned with Faheem Al-Azeem. These albums feature Stewart in live performance with some of the legends of Jazz: Pharoah Sanders, Etta Jones, Winard Harper, Mary Stallings, Sonny Simmons, Marcus Printup, Ed Kelly, and others. Stewart has elected to retire from recording and performing (as of January 1, 2017) in order to write religious books and pursue his interest in archaeology.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

Compilations

Video

Books