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Doc Stewart Big Band Resuscitation: Code Blue!

By Jack Bowers
June 5, 2014
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Doc Stewart Big Band Resuscitation: Code Blue!

"Doc" is much more than a nickname to Chris Stewart: it's a profession. And straight-ahead jazz is far more than a pastime: it's a passion. For the past sixteen years,

Doc Stewart

saxophone, alto
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Doc Stewart's day gig has been ER physician at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, AZ. Long before that, however, Stewart was a working musician who played alto sax with a number of big bands including those led by

Tom Kubis

arranger

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Kubis,

Ladd McIntosh

composer / conductor
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Ladd McIntosh,

Matt Catingub

saxophone
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Catingub,

Louie Bellson

drums
1924 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Louie Bellson,

Toshiko Akiyoshi

piano
b.1929

" data-original-title="" title="">Toshiko Akiyoshi /

Lew Tabackin

saxophone, tenor
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Lew Tabackin,

Bill Watrous

trombone
1939 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Watrous and (coincidentally) Doc Rutherford. He is also a well-known

Cannonball Adderley

saxophone
1928 - 1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Cannonball Adderley historian / discographer who in 2005 recorded the album Phoenix: A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley.

Having affirmed Stewart's credentials, how's the music? Well, if he practices medicine as well as he plays alto, leads a band and chooses sidemen, Stewart's patients at the Mayo Clinic may rest assured they are in good hands indeed. The session opens, appropriately enough, with the graphic "Code Blue Suite," comprised of four surveys of the blues, the second of which ("Ironman Blues") sounds like something that might have been written by

Med Flory

saxophone, tenor
1926 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Med Flory for SuperSax. The suite was actually co-written by Stewart and Kubis. Next up is the first of two engaging compositions by Adderley, "The Sticks," followed by Kubis' lyrical "Homage to

Bud Shank

saxophone
1926 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Bud Shank,"

Hal Galper

piano
1938 - 2025

" data-original-title="" title="">Hal Galper's sinuous "Snakin' the Grass" (complete with electronic enhancements), Stewart's charming salute to his wife of thirty-four years, "Patty's Bossa," and

Bobby Timmons

piano
1935 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Timmons' jazz evergreen, "Dis Here."

Catingub scored that one, as he did Adderley's graceful "Introduction to a Samba," the standard "Poor Butterfly" (on which the saxophone passages are breathtaking) and

Charles Lloyd

saxophone
b.1938

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Lloyd's warm-hearted "Song My Lady Sings." Yet another Catingub arrangement, of the Jerome Kern standard "The Way You Look Tonight" (a second showcase for the sax section plus trombonist

Andy Martin

trombone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Andy Martin), leads to the fast-paced finale, Kubis' galvanic arrangement of

Oscar Pettiford

bass
1922 - 1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Pettiford's "Bohemia After Dark" (with even more saxophone pyrotechnics). Stewart solos (tastefully, sometimes in Cannonball mode) on all but one of the album's fourteen numbers, amplifying incisive statements by trumpeters

Jeff Bunnell

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Bunnell,

Wayne Bergeron

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Bergeron and

Ron Stout

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Ron Stout; trombonists Martin, Scott Kyle and

Bill Reichenbach

drums
1923 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Reichenbach; alto Catingub, tenor Bill Liston and drummer Steve Moretti. Longtime friends Stewart and Catingub share blowing space (briefly) on "Bud Shank" and "Song My Lady Sings."

No matter how many miles are on your odometer or what shape you are in, Code Blue! could be just what the doctor ordered.

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Track Listing

Code Pink; Ironman Blues; The Last Breath Blues; Code Jesus; The Sticks; Homage to Bud Shank; Snakin' the Grass; Patty's Bossa; Dis Here; Introduction to a Samba; Poor Butterfly; Song My Lady Sings; The Way You Look Tonight; Bohemia after Dark.

Personnel

Doc Stewart

saxophone, alto

Dan Higgins

flute

Rusty Higgins

saxophone, alto

Bill Liston

saxophone, tenor

Greg Huckins

saxophone, baritone

Wayne Bergeron

trumpet

Dan Fornero

trumpet

Jeff Bunnell

trumpet

Ron Stout

trumpet

Kyle Palmer

trumpet

Andy Martin

trombone

Alex Iles

trombone

Scott Kyle

trombone

Bill Reichenbach Jr.

trombone

Matt Catingub

saxophone

Kevin Axt

bass

Steve Moretti

drums

Tom Kubis

arranger

Doc Stewart: alto saxophone; Dan Higgins: woodwinds; Bill Liston: woodwinds; Rusty Higgins: woodwinds; Greg Huckins: woodwinds; Alex Budman: woodwinds; Wayne Bergeron: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Dan Fornero: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Jeff Bunnell: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Ron Stout: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Kye Palmer: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Larry Hall: trumpet, Flugelhorn; Andy Martin: trombone; Alex Iles: trombone; Scott Kyle: trombone; Bill Reichenbach: trombone; Matt Catingub: piano; Kevin Axt: acoustic bass, electric bass; Steve Moretti: drums.

Album information

Title: Code Blue! | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Cannonball Records

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