Ian Stewart is a professional musician, composer and arranger based in London. He grew up in Malta, and in Scotland, spent many years playing Mediterranean music with Italian musicians, worked in the region and has never lost his love for the culture and music of those parts of the world. Both have remained a strong influence on his work.
Ian is a classically trained pianist, and played trombone in the Scottish Youth Brass Band. He went on to perform on piano, electric keyboards, laptop, turntables, accordion and bass guitar and not surprisingly has worked in most styles of music, including classical, electronica, jazz, middle of the road and new wave.
Listen to California - composed by Ian Stewart
From Synchromatic (released 2004) by Hugh Burns :
Hugh Burns - guitar
Malcolm Creese - Bass
Mike Smith - drums
available on Acoustic Masters
His compositions, embracing a variety of styles, have been performed in classical concerts, broadcast on radio, and used in television programmes. Classical saxophone compositions have been performed by Kyle Horch, Carole Sutherland, John Harle with the Brodski Quartet, Richard Ingham, Saxploitation, Euphonique Quartet, and he has composed for almost every style of music - classical, new wave, jazz and alternative/free. Recent works have been influenced by late 60s/early 70s psychedelic music.
Arrangements of Chick Corea's Children's Songs have been broadcast by John Harle on BBC Wales Music Now and BBC Radio 3, and Ian was string
arranger on the Love album released by Zomba Production Music.
His electronica and rock music is released by three library companies.
Ian has always had a passion for using more unusual instruments, or ensembles, resulting in works for 12 alto saxophones, 4 tubas, saxophone and scratch turntables, electric guitar, and several pieces for instrument and tape. He not only uses conventional instruments, but includes turntables and laptop. These works have been performed in recitals, contemporary dance performances and in the New York club vOID.
Early days : a live prime time Friday evening broadcast on London's Capital Radio 1982.
Listen to Ian's arrangement in which he took the minimal harmony and rough open 5th chords, typical of New Wave guitar
bands, and used those as a basis for this arrangement of a swing band standard.
Don't Get Around Much Anymore
played by Richard Green's Next Step Band (with Ian Stewart Arp Quadra)