Zan Stewart is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jazz writer and musician. .

Biography

He is the son of Cassius Lynford Stewart (1907–1997), an accountant for film studios in Hollywood and also a pianist, guitarist, and artist; and Elizabeth Wilbur Stewart (1904–1992), who, as Elizabeth Wilbur, was an actress in Hollywood in the late 1930s and early 1940s, appearing on stage, in films, and on radio His maternal grandmother was the playwright Helen Clifford Wilbur (1878–1937), who wrote numerous plays and also contributed scripts for the Christian Science radio program, "Courage Corner."

Jazz writing

Stewart became fascinated with jazz as a teenager growing up in Ojai, Ca., where he moved with his parents in 1955, and was introduced to jazz journalism through extensive reading of Down Beat Magazine, to which he would later contribute, beginning in the 1980s. He wrote extensively for the Los Angeles Times from 1980–2000, brought onto the paper by the renowned jazz writer Leonard Feather and mentored there by arts editor Fred Crafts. Stewart's colleagues at the Times included jazz writer Don Heckman and noted food writers Colman Andrews, a friend since adolescence in Ojai, and Ruth Reichl. He has also written for the L.A. Weekly, Jazz Life, Swing Journal, Jazziz and, from 2002–2010, the Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, from which he retired in 2010.

Musical career

Stewart's interest in instrumental music began with piano studies at age 5, followed by clarinet at age 6, and saxophone at age 15. As a tenor saxophonist, he has performed in clubs in New York, various townships in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and elsewhere. He names Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...

as a principal influence, and has also been inspired by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, and Coleman Hawkins. .

Among the musicians Stewart has performed with are pianists Albert Dailey, Gildo Mahones, Freddie Redd, Art Hillery, and Tardo Hammer; guitarists Bob DeVos and Dave Stryker; bassists Paul Gill, Louis Spears, Bill Moring, and Mike Karn; drummers Clarence Johnston, Roy McCurdy, Jimmy Cobb, Tony Reedus, Steve Johns, and Tim Horner; and saxophonists Wilbur Brown, Pat Britt, Frank Morgan, Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman, and Grant Stewart. In 1996, Stewart won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for his liner notes to "Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings". He has written liner notes to over 200 albums and box sets.