Luke Stewart is a composer-improviser, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and organizer known for his work as a soloist; leader of his Exposure Quintet, with Edward Wilkerson, Jr., Ken Vandermark, Jim Baker, and Avreeayl Ra; and member of groups including Blacks' Myths, Heart of the Ghost, Six Six, Irreversible Entanglements, and Heroes Are Gang Leaders, a literary free jazz ensemble that was awarded the 2018 American Book Award for Oral Literature.

Stewart has co-run DC jazz advocacy nonprofit CapitalBop since 2010, curating the organization's longstanding "Loft Jazz" concert series and writing music criticism for its website.

In 2020, he was included among DownBeat's "25 for the Future" as an artist who "shapes the artistic landscape".

He has performed or recorded with artists including Camae Ayewa, Keir Neuringer, Aquiles Navarro, Tcheser Holmes, Archie Shepp, Warren "Trae" Crudup, III, Miriam Parker, Daniel Carter, Fay Victor, Hamiet Bluiett, Wadada Leo Smith, Jarrett Gilgore, Ian McColm, Anthony Pirog, Jaimie Branch, Thurston Moore, Leila Bordreuil, and Priests.

Early life and career

Stewart grew up in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where he studied saxophone, violin, and guitar before he began playing electric bass in high school. Stewart began his undergraduate degree as an international studies major at the University of Mississippi. In 2005, as he prepared to begin an internship at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington, D.C., Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Stewart decided to stay in D.C. and transferred to American University, where his studies expanded to include audio engineering. In addition to his bachelor's from American, Stewart completed a master's in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at The New School in 2019.

After moving to D.C., Stewart began frequently attending and performing at avant-garde jazz and rock gigs. He also interned at "Jazz and Justice" radio station WPFW, eventually hosting his own weekly jazz radio show and working as a production coordinator.

In 2010, Stewart met Giovanni Russonello, who had recently founded jazz advocacy organization and website CapitalBop. Stewart began writing for and then co-running the organization, which was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in 2019.

Stewart met Camae Ayewa (also known as Moor Mother) while playing with Laughing Man, an art-punk band that shared bills with Ayewa's group the Mighty Paradocs. One year after the 2014 "People Issue" of the Washington City Paper called Stewart a "jazz revolutionary", he joined Ayewa, Keir Neuringer, Aquiles Navarro, and Tcheser Holmes in forming the "liberation-oriented free-jazz collective" Irreversible Entanglements. The group performed in the inaugural season of the Kennedy Center's "Direct Current" contemporary culture showcase, and their releases have been included in best-of lists in Magnet, NPR Music, The Quietus, and Stereogum's "20 Best Jazz Albums Of The 2010s".

Stewart has said he wants his collaborative work to "highlight the non-hierarchical nature of free improvisational music" and to challenge "the concept of the capital-C composer and how it affects our perceptions of music".

In 2021, he was a Resident Composer at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.

Discography

As leader / co-leader

Release year Artist Title Label Personnel2013Trio OOOLive for TrayvonAaron Martin, Sam Lohman, Stewart2015Trio OOODays To Be ToldNew AtlantisMartin, Lohman, Stewart2017Irreversible EntanglementsIrreversible EntanglementsInternational Anthem / Don GiovanniCamae Ayewa, Keir Neuringer, Aquiles Navarro, Stewart, Tcheser Holmes2018Blacks' MythsBlacks' MythsAtlantic RhythmsStewart, Warren "Trae" Crudup, III2018Heart Of The GhostHeart Of The Ghost PidgeonJarrett Gilgore, Stewart, Ian McColm2018Luke StewartWorks for Upright Bass and AmplifierAstral SpiritsStewart2019Blacks' MythsBlacks' Myths IIAtlantic RhythmsStewart, Crudup, Dr. Thomas "Bushmeat" Stanley, Cedar and Lu2019Heart of the GhostHeart of the Ghost IIDagorettiGilgore, Stewart, McColm2019Heart of the GhostLive In ChicagoCatalytic SoundGilgore, Stewart, McColm2020Irreversible EntanglementsWho Sent You?International Anthem / Don GiovanniAyewa, Neuringer, Navarro, Stewart, Holmes2020Luke Stewart, Brian Settles, Warren "Trae" Crudup, IIINo TreaspassingStewart, Settles, Crudup2020Six SixSix SixAtlantic RhythmsAnthony Pirog, Stewart2020Irreversible EntanglementsLive in ItalyAyewa, Neuringer, Navarro, Stewart, Holmes2020Heart of the GhostLive in DetroitDagorettiGilgore, Stewart, McColm2020Irreversible EntanglementsLive in BerlinAyewa, Neuringer, Navarro, Stewart, Holmes2020Heart of the Ghost with Dave BallouLive at RhizomeDagoretti / BulbGilgore, Stewart, McColm, Ballou2020Luke Stewart & Tashi DorjiPhasesStewart, Tashi Dorji2020Luke StewartGapsStewart2020Luke Stewart Exposure QuintetLuke Stewart Exposure QuintetAstral SpiritsStewart, Edward Wilkerson, Jr., Ken Vandermark, Jim Baker, Avreeayl Ra2021Luke Stewart / Patrick ShiroishiLuke Stewart / Patrick ShiroishiProfane IlluminationsStewart, Shiroishi2021!MOFAYA!Like One Long DreamTrost Recordsjaimie branch, John Dikeman, Stewart, Aleksandar Škorić2021Irreversible EntanglementsOpen the GatesInternational Anthem / Don GiovanniAyewa, Neuringer, Navarro, Stewart, Holmes2022Luke Stewart's Silt TrioThe BottomCuneiform RecordsL Stewart, B Settles, C Taylor2024Luke Stewart Silt TrioUnknown RiversPi RecordingsLuke Stewart, Brian Settles, Trae Crudup, Chad Taylor

As sideperson Release year Artist Title Label2010Laughing ManThe LovingsSockets Records2014Laughing ManBe Black BabyBad Friend / BLIGHT2015Ross HammondMean CrowPrescott Records2016James Brandon Lewis TrioNo FilterBNS Sessions2017PriestsNothing Feels NaturalSister Polygon Records2017Heroes Are Gang LeadersThe Avant-Age Garde I Ams Of The Gal LuxuryFast Speaking Music2018William HookerPillars... At the PortalMulatta Records2019James Brandon LewisAn UnRuly ManifestoRelative Pitch2019Brahja BrahjaRR Gems2019J. R. BohannonDuskFigureight2020Elliott Levin Trio with Chad Taylor and Luke StewartTin - Tabu - Latin' - Rhyth - Hymn2020Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, & Damu the FudgemunkOcean BridgesRedefinition Records2020Heroes Are Gang LeadersArtificial Happiness ButtonRopeadope Records2020Moor MotherCircuit CityDon Giovanni Records2020Anthony PirogTerry Riley's In CSonic Mass2021Bob BellerueRadioactive DesireElevator Bath

References