Slam Stewart

Slam Stewart
Stewart, c. 1946
Stewart, c. 1946
Background information
Born
Leroy Elliott Stewart

(1914-09-21)September 21, 1914
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedDecember 10, 1987(1987-12-10) (aged 73)
Binghamton, New York, U.S.
GenreJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentDouble bass
Years activemid-1930s–1987

Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987) was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before switching to bass at the age of 20.

Biography

Stewart at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, California, on April 28, 1981

Stewart was born in Englewood, New Jersey, United States, and began playing string bass while attending Dwight Morrow High School. While attending the Boston Conservatory, he heard Ray Perry singing along with his violin. This gave him the inspiration to follow suit with his bass. In 1937, Stewart teamed with Slim Gaillard to form the novelty jazz act Slim & Slam. The duo's biggest hit was "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" in 1938.

Stewart found regular session work throughout the 1940s with Lester Young, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Johnny Guarnieri, Red Norvo, Don Byas, Benny Goodman, and Beryl Booker. One of the most famous sessions he played on took place in 1945, when Stewart played with Dizzy Gillespie's group (which featured Charlie Parker). Out of those sessions came some of the classics of bebop such as "Groovin' High" and "Dizzy Atmosphere".

Stewart taught at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and at Yale University. He died of congestive heart failure on December 10, 1987, in Binghamton, aged 73.

Discography

"Groovin' High"
This sample of "Groovin' High", written by Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparelli, highlights Stewart's style of bowing while simultaneously singing/humming an octave higher. His solo picks up following a Charlie Parker saxophone solo and leads into a trumpet solo by Gillespie.
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Studio albums

As sideman

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Larkin, Colin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 376/7. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ↑ Palmer, Robert (December 1, 1987). "Slam Stewart, 73, a Jazz Bassist Known for Singing With His Solos". The New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2017. Mr. Stewart, whose real name was Leroy, was born in Englewood, N.J. on Sept. 21, 1914
  3. ↑ "Stewart, Slam (Leroy Elliot)]". Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. n.d. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2013. Leroy Elliot Slam Stewart was born on September 21st, 1914 in Englewood, New Jersey. Stewart started his musical journey at age six playing the violin. Claiming he didn't care for the timbre of the violin, Stewart switched to the string bass while attending Dwight Morrow High School.
  4. ↑ "Deaths". Billboard. New York. December 26, 1987. p. 93. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Google Books.