jdgm Posted August 20, 2016 Posted August 20, 2016 The death has been announced of Louis Stewart, 72, Irish jazz guitarist. R.I.P. Louis Stewart was the real thing, a true jazz master. Tremendous depth of knowledge, technique to rival anyone you could name in the genre. I was fortunate enough to see him several times over the years in various different lineups and will miss him. One of the 1st jazz groups I ever saw was Ronnie Scott's with Louis. In his own groups he favoured a trio or the duo setting with another chordal instrument; his duos with Mundell Lowe and also Martin Taylor were absolutely riveting to watch. Here is a good late clip - 2013, playing "Billie's Bounce" - dig his incredible chording and that 175! :( EDIT - In the 2 days since I posted this sad news, Toots Thielemans has also gone at the fine old age of 94. Toots Thielemans was a Belgian jazz guitarist and harmonica player who played with a great many jazz giants during his long and very productive life. His harmonica playing can be heard on (for instance) the 'Midnight Cowboy' soundtrack, the theme from 'Sesame Street', Jaco Pastorius's own version of "3 Views Of A Secret" and much more from Oscar Peterson, George Shearing to Billy Joel and Paul Simon. He wrote "Bluesette" which is in 3/4 time, and is one of those jazz standards about which you think "I know this one...." when you hear it. My own oblique connection to Toots Thielemans is as follows; in 1994 I had just bought the Mike Mainieri CD "Come Together" which is a guitar tribute to The Beatles and features some fantastic interpretations of their material. The last track on the CD is an achingly beautiful version of "Yesterday" performed by Toots. In a moment of pure serendipity, I listened to this then took the CD off and switched on my radio, only to hear the exact same track being played on Jazz FM. At the end of the track the DJ announced a competition - the 1st to call in correctly identifying the track would win 3-day tickets to the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, Holland and stay in a big hotel. I called immediately and won! That weekend I saw John Abercrombie (Gateway trio), John Mclaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Johnny Griffin, Marcus Miller, Milt Jackson, The Red Devils and many more. God Bless you, Mr Thielemans. R.I.P.
Karloff Posted August 20, 2016 Posted August 20, 2016 those guys have always blown me away when I listen to them. RIP Mr. Stewart.
kelly campbell Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 R.I.P. Mr Stewart thanks for all the inspiring music
jdgm Posted August 22, 2016 Author Posted August 22, 2016 Forum members please excuse this bump for Toots....... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toots_Thielemans
zigzag Posted August 23, 2016 Posted August 23, 2016 I was not familiar with Toots until about 15 years ago when my instructor had me learn Bluesette . Since, I have become lots more familiar with him. Good stuff. RIP, Toots.
L5Larry Posted August 23, 2016 Posted August 23, 2016 Toots probably deserves his own tribute thread, but this one does have the jazz theme, so I'll post some Toots info here: Years ago (I guess 14 to be exact), I happen to have (accidentally) gotten invited to an 80th birthday party celebration for Toots. At the time I was familiar with some of his music, and had heard a wonderful radio interview with him, but neither could properly prepare me for meeting the man. He was one of the finest "Gentlemen" I have ever met, from any walk of life, music or otherwise. His stories and recollections were full of jazz (and world) history, and seldom a contrary word about anyone. From being stuck in Belgium during the Nazi occupation of WWII, to his "European" view, and fascination of American Jazz, to first being brought to the U.S by Benny Goodman as a GUITAR PLAYER, to playing in the "allstar" band with Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, to his admiration and respect for Jaco Pastorious, listening to him tell stories was a fascinating world (and music) history lesson. I felt like the student sitting at the feet of the master. I got to spend some time with him (and hear him and his band perform) a few years later, and figured it was probably the last time I would see him. Most people think of Toots as the master of the chromatic harmonica..... but, he was one hell of a jazz guitarist. It was guitar playing that first brought him to the attention of the American jazz world. Even prior to his 80th b'day, he had had a stroke which affected the use of his left hand. Although this limited his guitar playing greatly, he still pulled out a Gibson ES-175 to play him famous song Bluesette, plus... it's kinda hard to whistle and play harmonica at the same time. I know there are not a whole lot of jazzheads here on these boards, but most anyone 50 years old or younger has heard his playing, and probably even sang along.
L5Larry Posted August 23, 2016 Posted August 23, 2016 One more YouTube link, as my personal tribute of appreciation:
jdgm Posted August 23, 2016 Author Posted August 23, 2016 Larry - many thanks for your posts. I have a dim memory of seeing Toots in the 70s but cannot now recall where or when - think it was some sort of guest appearance, JATP possibly... I was fortunate to meet and chat with Louis a couple of times too.
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