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This all-star Portland quartet infuses classic cuts, obscure nuggets and DK Stewart originals with a fresh take on the blues, New Orleans funk and R&B.
Stewart, whose New Orleans, boogie-woogie piano style has been a driving force behind such Northwest blues giants as Robert Cray, Paul deLay and Curtis Salgado, has for the past four years been tearing up major festival stages with his own group, the DK4 (DK Stewart Quartet). Backed by veteran Portland drummer Carlton Jackson, former Paul deLay Band bassist Don Campbell, and deLay guitarist Peter Dammann, Stewart serves up swinging, uptempo jump blues by Nat Cole, Charles Brown and T-Bone Walker; hard-grooving New Orleans funk by Professor Longhair, Clifton Chenier and the Meters; slashing Chicago blues by Howlin’ Wolf and Magic Sam; and his own soulful, compelling originals.
Stewart has performed with such blues legends as Big Walter Horton, S.P. Leary, Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, James Cotton, Albert Collins, George "Harmonica" Smith, Joe Louis Walker, and Roomful of Blues, and has appeared on bills with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Junior Walker, Clifton Chenier, Ray Charles, Paul Butterfield, and BB King. Stewart’s keyboard virtuosity can be heard on recordings by Robert Cray, Paul deLay, Curtis Salgado, Lloyd Jones, and on his own three solo projects, including the band’s latest release, “IN THE HOUSE.”
As a band leader, and as a featured sideman, Stewart has appeared at major blues venues throughout the US, including Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, Winthrop Blues Festival, Mt. Baker Blues Festival, and the Legendary R&B Cruise.
The band frequenty teams up with the Heartache Horns, featuring British sax legend Chris Mercer and NW all-star trumpeter Joe McCarthy, and does shows former Roomful of Blues vocalist and Seattle resident Mark DuFresne.
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