Performer Profile: Kerby Stewart
Written by Johnny Case
His imprint on my memory is such that I can still see him hurriedly coming into a gig venue, toting his bass, and wheeling in his amp. It was a sight of delight for any of the top musicians who played the countless free-lance gigs where personnel is sometimes not known by the participants until gig time. I speak for jazz musicians in particular because we loved him. Knowing that it would be Kerby on the gig meant there would be a groove, for he always supplied the solid, swinging acoustic bass which assures a relaxed and pleasant playing experience for the other musicians. Kerby Stewart was the quintessence of the true professional who possessed a natural musicality combined with a thorough scholastic foundation. Although Kerby was not a particularly extroverted personality, he was a man of sincerity and good spirits. Kerby was kind to everyone, and to those who knew him well, it was fun being in his company.
Man, when I met him in 1967 or '68, it was at a house party where the landlord had invited his musician-tenant (Bill Majors) to have his friends over for a jazz jam. Jerry Case and I had only recently met Bill Majors and we were lucky to be among the invited participants. There were three bass players we'd not yet encountered: Bill Hieronymus, Mike Ross, and Kerby. All three were gifted bassists, but Kerby stood out as the best. These players were near my age (about 20 years old). I was heartened to discover a crop of like-minded young musicians, and the fact of a delayed encounter with these players can be attributed to their academic background which placed them in a different circle from the self-taught musicians, no matter how advanced and impressive some in the latter group proved to be. We jammed on tunes we were all familiar with, so there was no reading involved. When, at age 15, I'd made the conscious decision to forge ahead in learning by ear, I was well aware that my chosen route would exclude me from ever doing studio work, playing with orchestras or playing scored shows, etc. Therefore, it felt wonderful to be accepted as a player by these schooled musicians who placed the real value of jazz performance on naturally developed talent for improvisation. One achieves this by listening, practicing, and performing with others whenever possible. I must say, Kerby had it all together at this young age. I was good enough to participate, but he was far ahead of me, in my estimation. He was therefore an inspiration, and although he would continue to grow musically, I had much more growing to do than did the young Kerby Stewart. I would be striving to reach that higher plateau he so clearly and confidently occupied.
He attended North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), internationally known for its jazz program. Kerby Stewart was bassist with the famous One O'clock Lab Band in the early 1970s. I remember when he later joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Not long afterward, I eagerly responded to a friend's telephone call asking me to play a jam session one Sunday afternoon while Kerby was between road trips with Kenton. Kerby Stewart and young drummer Peter Erskine comprised Kenton's formidable rhythm team. One superlative album was recorded and issued during their tenure. After a couple of years or so, Kerby joined the Woody Herman Orchestra, probably for the varied experience. It was a different type of band with definitely more emphasis on swinging and less on the more intellectual musical excursions for which his previous employer is well known.
It was when Kerby was with Herman's band that I hired him for a recording session. I assembled an unusual sextet for this 1975 session that yielded four lengthy cuts of some recent originals I had composed. These were side-long cuts, so they were issued on two LPs, the second of which was issued in 1976. The personnel: Jerry Case, guitar; John Westfall, trombone & bass trombone; Tom Morrell, pedal steel; Kerby Stewart; acoustic bass; Ted Wasser, drums and myself on piano. The first album representing this session was titled "Eclipse". In his Cadence Magazine review, Bob Rusch referred to its contents as "bold and assertive music" (Vol.1, No. 10, Sept. 1976). Another recording, this one in the archives, documents a live set from 1976 featuring vocalist Tammy Brooks accompanied by the Case brothers with Kerby Stewart as an added guest performer. The venue was The French Quarter, a small club in Fort Worth that sometimes featured live music. Ms. Brooks recorded the night's performance to have as a souvenir. Over the years I had the pleasure of performing with this primo bassist in a variety of settings. We played a Dallas trio gig with the great British drummer Colin Bailey, a concert with jazz guitarist Clint Strong at Weatherford College, a wedding gig with Clint Strong and Andrew Griffith on drums, an ad hoc jazz concert at a shopping mall, and during my early years at Sardines Ristorante Italiano, he played one memorable night with my trio. It is memorable to me because of Kerby's response to crowd apathy. We'd just played an up-tempo number, which was very intense and energetic. At the tune's conclusion, the usual crowd noise continued with zilch reaction to the music they had apparently ignored. Kerby looked up and out at the crowd. He had a stunned expression on his face, which quickly disappeared as he commented: "Oh, they're on the other side". He had succinctly described that invisible barrier that sometimes separates the creative performers from an oblivious clientele.
No matter how infrequent our encounters, Kerby Stewart was always the same friendly individual whom I had known him to be through the years. The last time I saw Kerby was at Sammons Center for the Arts in Dallas. He was with the Gumbo Kings, a top-notch Dixieland band. They played the night's first set. I had time to speak with him briefly before the second set began. Duane Durrett, Byron Gordon, and I played music from our "Waiting for the Moment" CD. The year was 2004.
In addition to Kerby's renown as a bassist, he was also highly respected as a recording engineer and as an educator in both music performance and sound recording. Kerby's sudden death was such a shock, it brought expressions of disbelief from a huge number of friends and fellow musicians. His absence will continue to be felt by the Dallas/Fort Worth jazz community. This much-admired musician and educator was also a devoted family man. No one could have felt the terrible impact of Kerby's unexpected, early death more than his wife and their four children.
The following words are from the official tribute posted online in early 2008.
In Celebration of Kerby Stewart, February 28, 1947 - February 13, 2008.
Kerby Stewart, 60, passed away after a brief bout of pneumonia on February 13, 2008. Kerby was a popular recording engineer and double bassist who performed regularly with the N'Awlins Gumbo Kings. During a career that spanned more than 40 years, he toured with the NORAD Commodores Jazz Band, the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and the UNT 1:00 Lab Band. He performed with the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show Rodeo Band, the Ice Capades, and Dallas Summer Musicals. He also performed with a long list of jazz and pop music stars, including Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Mose Allison, Stan Getz, Phil Woods, Ray Price, Gary Burton, Chet Atkins, Jim Hall, and Louie Bellson.
On the other side of the microphone, Kerby established himself as a professional educator. He was an active teacher and clinician, not only for bass and improvisation but also in the field of recording technology. Kerby developed the recording courses and helped develop the curriculum for the Recording Technology option of the Commercial Music Program at Cedar Valley College where he taught for 30 years. He was a graduate of Texas Christian University with a BFA degree in Radio/Television/Film. After TCU, he studied at the University of North Texas in the areas of Computer Science and Music."
KERBY STEWART - Select Discography
Stan Kenton Orchestra - 7.5 On the Richter Scale: Recorded 1973 and issued on Jasmine Records JAS 201 (LP) also issued on Creative World STD 1070 (CD)
John & Jerry Case Sextet - Eclipse: Recorded 1975 and issued on Priority Records PRS- 404 (LP)
" " " " - Two Moods: Recorded 1975 and issued on Priority Records PRS-405 (LP)
Slim Richey - Jazz Grass: Recorded 1977 and issued on Ridge Runner Records RRR0009 (LP)
Paul Guerrero Quintet - Texas Tenors featuring James Clay & Marchel Ivery: Recorded Sept./Oct.1985 - issued on Jazz Mark Records 104 (LP)
Chet Baker - Time After Time: Recorded January 13 & 14 1985 and issued on the Italian label IRD Records TDM 004-1 (LP) advisory note: There is another album by Chet Baker that has the same title!
The N'Awlins Gumbo Kings - We're The Gumbo Kings: Recorded 2004 and issued by Herring, Howard & Sizer No # (CD)