Stewart Plays Bryant

Reaction to the death of Ray Bryant keeps coming in. Dubliner Colm (Red) O’Sullivan writes from Rio de Janeiro, where he is immersing himself in Brazilian music. He alerts us to video of a fellow Irishman, guitarist Louis Stewart, playing a Bryant composition. Stewart has been an important player in the UK for decades. He has occasionally appeared in the US. In The New York Times in 1981, John S. Wilson wrote, after hearing Stewart, “he spins out single-note lines that flow with an unhurried grace, colored by sudden bright, lively chorded phrases.” That has not changed.

Here are Stewart and his frequent partner, pianist Jim Doherty, playing Ray Bryant’s “The Bebop Irishman.” Following the tune, a BBCish announcer gives a bit of Stewart’s bio.

Sorry for the early out. That’s all there was.