Jazz Articles about Louis Stewart

About Louis Stewart

Album Review

Few books have provoked such acclaim and disdain as Ulysses (1922), James Joyce's dense and dazzling opus. Banned in the UK, subject to an obscenity trial in the USA, scrutinized, vilified and glorified, it has inspired and baffled in equal measure. Its experimental stream-of-consciousness style--liberally laced with puns and mordant humor--has proven a literary Everest for many, an indigestible slog for others. Even Joyce's wife allegedly observed: “Why don't you write books people can read?" With ...

Album Review

Louis Stewart & Brian Dunning: Alone Together

Read "Alone Together" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 21, 2025

Re-releases and archival recordings are so abundant these days that it is easy to take for granted the work involved in dusting down and polishing up old recordings. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Dermot Rogers--the man at the helm of the revived Livia Records--Irish guitarist Louis Stewart's discography is being lovingly restored and reissued. Hats off also to Seán Mac Erlaine, whose mixing and mastering for Livia has bestowed pristine sound on half a dozen Stewart releases since 2022. ...

Album Review

Louis Stewart: I Thought About You

Read "I Thought About You" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 24, 2025

For jazz guitar fans, and for aficionados of Irish guitarist Louis Stewart in particular, the 2022 relaunch of '70s label Livia Records has been manna from heaven. This is the born-again label's fifth reissue of the great Dublin six-stringer's out-of-print recordings since the series launched with Stewart's other 1977 album Out on His Own (Livia Records, 2023). That album is widely viewed by guitarists past and present as a solo jazz guitar album for the ages. I Thought About You ...

Album Review

Jim Doherty: Jim Doherty's Spondance

Read "Jim Doherty's Spondance" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
April 10, 2025

Jim Doherty never lacked ambition, but a suite for jazz ballet or even jazz dance was always going to be a difficult sell in '80s Ireland. All was not lost for the pianist and composer, however. A few strings pulled here and there saw Doherty and his long- term collaborator, Louis Stewart decamp to Los Angeles, where they spent two days with top session musicians. One day of rehearsals and another in the recording studio resulted in Spondance, a jazz ...

Album Review

Louis Stewart & Martin Taylor: Acoustic Guitar Duets

Read "Acoustic Guitar Duets" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 3, 2024

Jazz is littered with examples of starry duos aligning in one-off recording projects that do not quite match expectations. Often the lack of real spark comes down to too much deference being shown. When such duos do come off, however, say as with the collaborations between Bill Evans and Jim Hall, to cite one outstanding example, the results can be little short of spectacular. This 1986 studio outing between guitarists Louis Stewart and Martin Taylor falls into the latter category--two ...

Album Review

Louis Stewart & Jim Hall: The Dublin Concert

Read "The Dublin Concert" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
September 8, 2024

When Jim Hall decided to spend the 1982 Christmas holidays in Ireland, did he really think that one of the most influential jazz guitarists in history could pass through incognito? The master of modern jazz guitar who had played with Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Giuffre, Ben Webster, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer, who was celebrated for a quartet of famous albums with Bill Evans, and who had crafted a masterly interpretation of Joaquin Rodrigo's “Concierto de Aranjuez" on Concierto ...

Album Review

The Louis Stewart Trio: Louis The First

Read "Louis The First" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 14, 2024

Long before Irish guitarist Louis Stewart released his debut album, the punningly titled Louis The First, none other than Joe Pass was singing his praises. Pass was not the only one; Ronnie Scott, who hosted many of the great jazz guitarists in his famous London venue, considered Stewart to be one of the best. Stewart was 31 years old when Hawk Records released this album. By then, the Dubliner could draw on a decade of touring--and occasionally recording--with the likes ...