Jimmy Stewart (musician)


Jimmy Stewart is an American guitarist who has performed a wide variety of music since the late-1950s. He is best known for his association with jazz guitarist, Gábor Szabó, but has been extensively involved in many genres of music as an arranger, conductor, producer, orchestrator, musical director, and educator. Stewart has appeared on over 1,200 recordings.

Early life and education

Stewart was born on September 8, 1937 in San Francisco, California. At the age of four, he commenced piano lessons, switching to guitar when he was eight. He sneaked out of the family house late at night to go to clubs. A professional by age 15, he received the opportunity to play with Earl Hines when he was 16.
After working in Lake Tahoe, he studied at the College of San Mateo, earning a degree in 1957, and the next year married Janet McCoy. In 1960 he attended the Chicago School of Music, where he was a student of classical guitarist and teacher, Richard Pick. He received a certificate in composition and modern arranging from the Berklee School of Music in 1964. He also engaged in private studies with Albert Harris, George M. Smith, Paul Miller, and Bud Young.

US Army

From 1958–1960, Stewart served in the US Army, where he became a broadcast specialist. He recorded the 1959 Playboy Jazz Festival for the Armed Forces radio station, was musical director for the weekly radio show, At Ease Show, and produced Parade Rest for St. Louis television. He also played guitar on variety shows and produced radio programs.

Los Angeles

Following his time with Szabó, Stewart moved to Los Angeles, where he became involved in several different areas of music. He recorded his album, The Touch, about which guiatrist Jim Ferguson wrote in Guitar Player, "Throughout, Jimmy displays his imagination, depicting a fictional encounter between Szabo and Carlos Santana, as well as paying tribute to influences Jimmy Raney, Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery. In addition to playing jazz, Stewart played heavy metal next to Tommy Bolin at a music industry trade show in Los Angeles.

Studio musician

As a studio musician, Stewart has played on over 1,200 sessions. He was one of the first studio guitarists to introduce the rock guitar to soundtracks and commercials. His versatility made him in demand for many decades. Chris Colombi, Jr. wrote of Stewart in 1986, "His playing and tastes run back to the blues, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, and forward to Al DiMeola, Tony Purrone and Jim Hall."
In Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies, music critic Leonard Feather said that Stewart "attributes his inspiration to a range of influences, from Segovia and Bartók to Charlie Christian and Laurindo Almeida."
Since settling in Los Angeles, Stewart worked as musical director for Lainie Kazan and as an arranger for tours of Andy Williams. He worked with Gary Crosby, Chita Rivera, and Rod McKuen; arranged for John Gary, Lou Gottlieb, Alex Hassel, Chad Mitchell and Tonilee Scott; and coached Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, and Lee Ritenour.

TV, film, stage

Stewart's guitar playing has appeared in such movies as Paint Your Wagon, Topaz, Some Kind of Nut, Nice Dreams, Minus One, and Chain of Command. In television, his work has appeared on music for Ironside, The Burt Bacharach Special, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Tonight Show. He also played music for stage shows, such as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Half a Sixpence, 110 in the Shade, No Strings, Funny Girl, Here's Love, Bye Bye Birdie, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, The Boy-Friend, and Man of La Mancha.

Educator and author

Stewart has written over twenty books, including Ear Training for the Guitarist, Sight Reading for the Guitarist, A Tribute to Classical Guitar, The Complete Jazz Guitarist, Rock Guitar, and Heavy Metal Guitar.
Stewart was founder of the guitar program at Dick Grove Music Workshops and was chairman of the Music Department at the Audio/Video Institute of Technology in Hollywood, conducting master classes in record production and music recording history. Stewart also taught guitar at the Musicians Institute; taught music theory, orchestration, and guitar at the University of Southern California; and helped to build the guitar department at Dick Grove Workshops. In the mid-1980s, one of Stewart's guitar students was Linda Ronstadt.
He wrote the monthly column, "The Complete Musician", for Guitar Player from 1971–1981 and has written for Jazz Educators Journal, Sound & Recording Magazine, OnStage Magazine and Recording Engineer & Producer Magazine.

Composer

As a classical composer, Stewart has written more than fifteen compositions, including ten Etudes for Classical Guitar, Concertino for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, Folk Songs for Orchestra, Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin, and two string quartets.

Golf and hypnosis

An enthusiastic golfer and a student of the game, Stewart wrote Mastering Golf Through Hypnosis in 2009 and produced a recording of the book. He studied at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Los Angeles. He has been an assistant golf coach who teaches children and has also appeared on golf infomercials.

Discography

Solo
With Gábor Szabó