Wax On - Louis Stewart

About this event

Our 10th Wax On will focus on the life and music of Irish Jazz legend LOUIS STEWART. Considering the sizeable contribution Stewart has made to the Irish Jazz scene, we have included a performance element to the evening, which will see guitarist Hugh Buckley and bassist Dave Fleming, both of whom worked extensively with Stewart throughout his life, take to the stage.

Louis Stewart was the first Irish jazz musician of international stature and is one of the most respected players of his instrument in the world. He had a remarkable international career spanning six decades, rising to prominence in 1960s, winning successive awards at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, including the offer a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston - an offer which he never took up.

Throughout the 1970s, Stewart was a regular in the Ronnie Scott quintet, playing almost nightly in the saxophonist’s eponymous Soho club, where his playing attracted the attention of some of the leading jazz musicians of the day. Among the guitarists who admired Stewart’s playing were US jazz giants such as Jim Hall and Joe Pass.

Stewart achieved what no other Irish jazz musician before or since has managed – to become one of the most respected players of his instrument in the world. The first Irish jazz musician of international stature, he was rightly revered by successive generations of guitarists and is undoubtedly responsible for the preponderance of that instrument in Irish jazz today.

Irish Times music critic Cormac Larkin will host this special edition of WAX ON in conversation with Stewart’s longtime friend and pianist Jim Doherty, bringing the audience on an intimate journey through the life and recordings of one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary jazz guitar.

Tickets for this event are EXTREMELY LIMITED, so book now to avoid disappointment.

WAX ON is both a listening party, placing the needle in the groove of a collection of favourite jazz albums, as well as an intimate space for story-telling and reflections.

Moderated by Irish Times music critic Cormac Larkin, with a panel of jazz aficionados, Wax On brings the audience on an intimate journey through the life and recordings of some of the most influential and important artists of the jazz genre.