Robert Stewart (saxophonist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Stewart
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Darrin Stewart |
| Born | Oakland, California, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, soul, blues, Middle Eastern, R&B, avant-garde |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Qwest, Warner Bros., Red, Nagel-Heyer, Exodus, World Stage, Armageddon |
| Associated acts | Wynton Marsalis, Billy Higgins, Pharoah Sanders, Winard Harper, Black Note |
Meet Robert Darrin Stewart, an amazing American saxophonist! He's made many albums of his own music between 1994 and 2006. He also played with other famous musicians, like trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on his album Blood on the Fields. Robert has traveled all over the United States and the world during his 30-year music career, playing his own music and with Wynton Marsalis's band.
Contents
Robert's Early Life
Robert Stewart was born in Oakland, California. His mom was from Louisiana. His biological dad, Bob Stewart, was a talented flutist and trumpeter who studied at the San Francisco Conservatory.
Robert says his mom started teaching him to read from the Qur'an when he was just three years old. After that, he read the Bible. He went on to learn about other major religions too.
Discovering Music
When Robert was younger, he played the flute just for fun. His main passion in elementary school was basketball. He once said he "played flute in high school because it was easy to hide from my friends who were all into sports." His high school music teacher was the one who encouraged him to play jazz.
After graduating from Fremont High School in 1986, Robert was listening to the radio. He heard two different tenor saxophonists, John Coltrane and Ben Webster, play songs. The way they sounded so different, even though they played the same instrument, really interested him. He remembered his teacher's words and decided to focus on jazz.
That summer, Robert started going to jam sessions with a pianist named Ed Kelly in the Oakland Bay Area. There, he met saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Pharoah became his first mentor, giving him tips and encouraging him to keep playing and get better.
Robert's Music Career
In New York, Robert Stewart played with trumpeter Roy Hargrove. In 1991, he performed with drummer Max Roach's group. The next year, in 1992, Robert played with many jazz legends. These included McCoy Tyner (piano), Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Milt Jackson (vibes), Billy Higgins (drums), and organist Jimmy Smith.
Robert also joined a group from Los Angeles called Black-Note for eight months. He played with trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and drummer Brian Blade that same year. By 1995, he had also played with musicians like Buddy Montgomery, Chico Freeman, and Donald Byrd. A jazz critic named Jason Ankeny called Robert "One of the most impressive hard bop tenor saxophonists to emerge during the 1990s."
Touring the World
In 1993, Robert was asked to tour with a New York group called The Harper Brothers. This was his first big national tour with a band. By the end of 1994, he started touring nationally with his own music.
His most famous performance that year was when he joined trumpeter Wynton Marsalis's big band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. They performed Blood on the Fields, and the recording even won a Pulitzer Prize for Music! He also played on the album They Came to Swing. In 1997, he was part of the Blood on the Fields tour across the United States and Europe.
In 1997, Robert played weekly at places like Club Deluxe and Bruno's in San Francisco. He also had a special show with singer Jon Hendricks for a Bread and Roses benefit. This concert took place inside the former Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary! In June 1997, Robert's quartet, which included drummer Billy Higgins, played a concert at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The year before, Billy Higgins had said that Robert was "perhaps the most important young artist to come along in decades."
In 1998, Robert Stewart performed with guitarist Patrick Greene for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. This was at a special event to raise money for the Democratic party in Woodside, California. He also played with the famous Dizzy Gillespie in one of Gillespie's last concerts. Over his 30-year career, Robert toured the world many times.
Robert's Albums
Robert Stewart's first album as a band leader was Judgement. It was released by World Stage Records. This album featured Billy Higgins on drums, Eric Reed on piano, and Mark Shelby on bass. Jazz writer Scott Yanow said that Robert "emphasize[d] his warm tone and [held] long notes, taking his time to get his message across." In 1994, Robert recorded Beautiful Love Ballads for Red Records in Italy, which came out in 1998.
His first album for Quincy Jones's Qwest Records was In the Gutta in 1996. Saxophonist Dave Liebman was very impressed, saying Robert sounded like a player from an older generation. Robert's next album with Qwest was The Force. It featured drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist Reginald Veal, and his first teacher, pianist Ed Kelly. Robert said that Qwest waited almost two years to release it and didn't promote it much because it had Islamic influences.
In 2000, Robert recorded Nat the Cat, which was a tribute to Nat "King" Cole. This album included Ed Kelly (piano), Mark Williams (bass), Sly Randolph (drums), and even his family members Kevin Stewart (piano) and Robert Stewart III (flute). Robert's 2003 album The Movement was a live concert recording. It was also the very last recording for drummer Billy Higgins. In 2003, Robert recorded Heaven and Earth for Nagel-Heyer Records. This album was more of a smooth jazz style, and many of the songs were written by Robert himself. An AllMusic reviewer noted that there was "a positive social message that runs through the songs."
After Performing
Robert Stewart stopped recording and performing music at the end of 2016. He decided to focus on writing religious books, teaching, and traveling instead.
Robert's Music List
Here are some of the albums Robert Stewart has been a part of:
Albums as the Leader
- Judgement (World Stage, 1994)
- In the Gutta (Qwest/Warner Bros., 1996)
- The Force (Qwest/Warner Bros., 1998)
- Beautiful Love Ballads (Red, 1998)
- Nat the Cat (Red, 2000)
- The Movement (Exodus, 2002)
- Heaven and Earth (Nagel-Heyer, 2004)
- Happy Birthday Trane (Armageddon, 2006)
- Invitation (Armageddon, 2006)
- Evolution (Armageddon, 2006)
- Don't Move the Groove! (Volume 1 – Organ Funk) (Armageddon, 2006)
- Don't Move the Groove! (Volume 2 – Organ Blues) (Armageddon, 2006)
Albums as a Sideman (Playing with Others)
- Ed Kelly & Pharoah Sanders (Evidence, 1992)
- They Came to Swing (Columbia, 1994)
- Blood on the Fields (Columbia, 1995)
- The Music of America: Wynton Marsalis (Sony, 2012)
- Can't Hide Love (Seaside, 1996)
- Full Swing Ahead (Deluxe, 1998)
- Expressions of a Legacy (Effania Brown, 2001)
- Live at Lo Spuntino (Music in the Vines, 2002)
- David Leshare Watson Loves Swinging Soft & the Ballads (Music in the Vines, 2003)
- Nobody's Home (Chump Change, 2014)
- Fonky Times (Chump Change, 2015)
- A Beautiful Heart (Chump Change, 2016)
Compilation Albums
- 25th Red Records Anniversary – Un Filo Rosso Nel Jazz (Red, 2003)
- Red Records : The Color of Jazz (Red, 2009)
- 30 Jazz Love Standards (Red, 2010)
- Relaxin' Jazz (Red, 2010)
- Red Records 35th Anniversary (Red, 2011)
- Ballads 2004 (Nagel-Heyer, 2004)
Videos
- Marsalis on Music Video Series, Columbia Films (1995)
- Sessions at West 54th, PBS Television (1997)
- South Bank Show (Blood on the Fields), Bravo Television (1995)
Books Written by Robert
