Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Grant Stewart: Plays the Music of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn

Grant Stewart: Plays the Music of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn

By George Kanzler
August 7, 2009
View read count

Here's a refreshing take on Ellingtonia, one that doesn't rely on the overdone ("Take the A Train," "Perdido") or easy ("C-Jam Blues"). Canadian native

Grant Stewart

saxophone, tenor
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Grant Stewart brings a post-Swing, combo approach to his Ellingtonia, even going so far as to reference

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach,

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins,

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus,

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk/

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane collaboration. The tenor saxophonist, whose own distinctive style has echoes of

Clifford Jordan

saxophone, tenor
1931 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Jordan and later

Al Cohn

saxophone, tenor
1925 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Al Cohn in tone and conception, leads a pos tbop/hard bop-leaning quartet with pianist

Tardo Hammer

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Tardo Hammer, bassist Paul Gill and drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Farnsworth.

All of the material here should be familiar to fans of Ellingtonia with one exception: "Tonight I Shall Sleep," a ballad the Ellington Orchestra first recorded in 1945 with guest soloist

Tommy Dorsey

trombone
1905 - 1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Tommy Dorsey limning the melody on trombone. Stewart brings a rich warm tone and Dorsey-like legato approach to both the melody and his lyrical solo. Hammer's delicate, mostly single-note solo lines are reminiscent of the late

John Lewis

piano
1920 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">John Lewis. And the ending tenor coda, with its unresolved chord echoing the conclusion of "Lush Life," suggests Strayhorn may have had a hand in the tune, although it's credited solely to Ellington.

Stewart ups the tempo, via Bob Mover's chart, of "Something to Live For," revs up "It Don't Mean a Thing" to bebop speed and excavates a bluesy groove on "The Feeling of Jazz." "Raincheck" and "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart" demonstrate the charms of melodic substance to swing, while "Star-Crossed Lovers" from The Shakespearean Suite, is a tribute to alto saxophonist

Johnny Hodges

saxophone, alto
1907 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Hodges' sumptuous style.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Raincheck; Tonight I Shall Sleep; Angelica; I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart; It Don't Mean a Thing; Something To Live for; The Star Crossed Lovers; The Feeling of Jazz.

Personnel

Grant Stewart

saxophone, tenor

Grant Stewart: saxophone; Tardo Hammer: piano; Paul Gill: bass; Joe Farnsworth: drums.

Album information

Title: Plays The Music Of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Sharp Nine Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Reunion
< Previous

Jazz
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.