Herbie Steward was a crackerjack reed player. He toured and recorded with some of the toughest big bands of the late 1940s, including Artie Shaw, Alvino Rey, George Handy, Jack Teagarden, Ralph Burns and Woody Herman. Steward is probably best know for being one of the saxophones on Herman's original recording of Jimmy Giurffre's composition and arrangement of Four Brothers. He also was on Ralph Burns's Summer Sequence Part IV, which was immortalized by Getz's solo that was so sweet and lyrical that it became a song known as Early Autumn. The "four brothers" were Steward, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Serge Chaloff.
Throughout the 1950s, Steward recorded and toured extensively with Harry James, who by then had revamped his big band with powerhouse arrangements. When Steward recorded on small-group sessions, he was always a sideman. For whatever reason, Steward didn't record many albums under his own name, probably because he didn't have to. His first leadership album was So Pretty in 1962. His second and perhaps his best was The Three Horns of Herb Steward.
Recorded for Harry Lim's Famous Door label in March 1981, the album featured Steward on alto saxophone, clarinet and soprano saxophone. He was backed by Smith Dobson and Tee Carson on piano (on different tracks), Eddie Duran (g), John Mosher (b) and Eddie Moore (d). [Photo above of Eddie Duran]
The tracklist included Take the "A" Train, Serenata, The Song Is You, Madeleine, Too Close for Comfort, Gone With the Wind, Body and Soul and Herb's Blues. Carson's piano can be heard on Take the "A" Train, Too Close for Comfort and Body and Soul. Steward played soprano saxophone on Too Close for Comfort, clarinet on Body and Soul and alto sax on the rest. In addition to Steward, the standout here is Duran, whose tasteful, confident guitar had been featured extensively with Vince Guaraldi and Cal Tjader.
Among Steward's best known small-group sideman dates were Buddy Childers' Sam Songs (1955), Chet Baker's The James Dean Story (1956) and The Four Brothers: Together Again (1957).
Given how great The Three Horns is in 1981, one can only imagine how amazing Steward would have sounded had he been featured extensively as a leader during the 1950s and '60s.
Herbie Steward died in 2003.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Three Horns as a two-fer here.
JazzWax clips: Here's the full album in individual tracks...
