The recordings "Autumn Waves Goodbye" , "Low Tide" and "Fin D'amour" in the song list are live recordings, made in the garden....sorry for the poor quality! They are pure improvisations and we liked the result!...hope you do also....they will be on the Album "Ray en Verte" coming out this month...
Ok..read this but please scroll down and click on the links below...it costs u nothing.... Bill started classical violin at the age of ten. After winning first prize in the Scottish Central Counties Music Festival in 1970, 1971, 1972 and first prize in the Glasgow Music Festival in 1973, he won the McFarlane scholarship to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow at the age of fourteen. While at the Academy he won the first prize in the Robert Highgate Scholarship for violin in 1975, and went on to play with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scotland, Scottish Opera, Scottish Baroque Ensemble, Virtuosi Scotland, and at 19 toured Britain as leader of the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. At the age of 21 Bill left Scotland to take a position as leader of the Passau State Opera Orchestra in Germany before joining the world famous Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Herr. Prof. Karl Munchinger. By the time he was twenty-six, and as a member of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra Quartet, he had played in some of the most famous concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York.
Bill gave up playing the violin at 26. After 10 years of programming computers in Switzerland, he stared playing fiddle again, first playing Scottish Traditional music in Edinburgh, then after a move to Sligo, jazz violin. With this he has found a new musical expression., blending influences from his traditional Scottish up-bringing, classical music, and love of Eastern-European fiddle music.
After many solo concerts, and support for, among others, Nikki Sudden, and Hazel O'Conner at the "Left Bank", and playing with local groups like the Jazz Lads and Ellamental, he formed the Klazz with whom he played at the Derry Jazz Festival.
He is also playing in "BIG FISH" , previously "Café Gitane", a duo with Karl Burthom. This duo have a wide repetoire of standard jazz titles, swing jazz, gypsy jazz and original compositions all played in unique arrangements by the duo.
Preamble...
grew up in a house of music...my father playin Jim Reeves, Chet, Dean, Frank, you name it...(he won the american Eagle award for best international song a few years back) then, little brother Ian with his guitar playin ACDC, Led Zep, ..littler brother David protesting with the bass along the same lines (until they got famous in the band called "Strangeways" ...Ian played with Pink Floyd, Div went to Thailand, and now both are makin their own music again) ...older sister Linda belting out Chopin's Polinaise in A on the piano is now head of the best music school in Edinburgh...and then ...me on vivaldi and paganini...I was 14 at the time...meanwhile mum is goin nuts...(and singin along to radio three bbc classics... did we ever all play the same tune? yep, at the Golden Wedding of mum&dad two years ago....
During my "Zurich Years" composed over 400 pieces, synths...and piano improvs....can't play piano...but i like the sound and just let my fingers run around on it...got all that music on DATs...must get a new player cos now only have bad tape copies!
Sister bought me a fiddle when I stopped programming and a few years later here I am....started playing jazz about 7 years ago.....still learning.....! Have played with many jazz bands/groups in Ireland, supported Hazel O'Connor, Nick Sudden, Eve Cunningham, played with Steve Wickham (Waterboys) and Seamie O'Dowd (Dervish) in a group called "the Fiddle Tree", ......
anyway...
gigged with The Jazz Lads, Ellamental, jammed with Mickael Buckley, Micky Nielson and loadza others......
Now have Swing duo Karl Burthom on guitar...swing, gypsy and jazz standards in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grapelli.
Our first CD "Lucia's Waltz" is available to buy on the official site at
www.bill-stewart.org.uk
Soon be playing again with Guillaume Lelong (from france) and am looking forward to that!
Put some fiddle on some very famous persons wot will remain nameless...but thanx for their music...you all know it...
Have recorded the last 3 gigs (Café Gitane)....hope to get a live album out soon.....
Now writing new stuff...
Thanx to all my friends...
...take some time to see who they are..(check my friends list...)
they are dear to me and someof us gona make some great music together....
New Korg D888 and Rode mics.......some great music coming.......
Leonardo DiCaprio presents you with some information...