Louis The First, the Irish master’s first album, compares with his solo masterpiece Out On His Own, from the following year (1977). On repeated listening, I’d say it’s equal. The album features an excellent bassist and drummer in Martin Walsh and John Wadham, previously unknown to me. There are five trio tracks, one bass/guitar duet and three solo guitar tracks, recorded in Dublin in 1975. The guitarist was by then with Ronnie Scott’s Quintet, and gaining a richly deserved international recognition.
This remastered reissue adds a previously unissued version of Wayne Shorter’s Footprints, an example of Stewart’s choice of what at the time was lesser-known material. The trend continued on Out On His Own.
O Grande Amore stands out here: it’s mostly a Latin feel, but a switch to swing adds tension. Other highlights include Milt Jackson’s Bluesology, a plangent solo version of Send In The Clowns and an exciting, uptempo solo reading of Autumn Leaves. On a couple of tracks, Stewart overdubs himself, a technique used more extensively on the later album.
I’ve been listening to the live recording of Bill Evans recently reissued on Ezz-thetics, which gives insight into how his trio with LaFaro and Motian improvised. There are parallels with Louis Stewart, I think – both have a kind of loose arrangement but improvise spontaneously within that framework. At first I was thinking that Stewart uses licks, which seemed noticeable on the opening All The Things You Are. But on reflection, it’s more like a loose arrangement on the Evans model – a fine mode that’s found elsewhere in modern jazz.
The album was produced by Stewart’s friend Gerald Davis, and released on Dublin showband label Hawk Records. Davis then set up Livia, Ireland’s first jazz label, releasing Out On His Own. Livia closed following Davis’s death in 2005, but Dermot Rogers has now reactivated it and will release other previously unissued material. The results so far are excellent – this is a project that needs support! If only Louis Stewart had received throughout his career the support his pre-eminence demanded.
Discography
All The Things You Are; Bluesology; Body And Soul; Send In The Clowns; O Grande Amore; Here’s That Rainy Day; Alone Together; Autumn Leaves; Footprints (44.42)
Stewart (g); Martin Walsh (b); John Wadham (d). Dublin, September 1975.
Livia Records LRCD2401
