Luke Stewart Silt Quartet

The Silt Quartet around bassist Luke Stewart is one of the most exciting formations on the current US jazz scene. Described by DownBeat as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, Stewart has been a key figure in the creative music scene on the East Coast and beyond for almost two decades. With his current Silt Quartet, the influential bassist offers spiritual jazz in the tradition of Albert Ayler. This means free rhythms and grooves with echoes of the blues of his native Mississippi. And plenty of room for improvisation for his partners Brian Settles (saxophone), Aquiles Navarro (trumpet) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums).

Luke Stewart was most recently our guest in the quartet of saxophonist David Murray (2023) and in the group Irreversible Entanglements with poet Moor Mother (2023). From his home in Brooklyn, Luke Stewart is musically active in various capacities: as a double bassist and electric bassist, but also as a unique instigator of many music events in New York and Washington, D.C., author, activist, producer and DJ. He has a ubiquitous and infectious force in the music scene and is known for the bands Heroes Are Gang Leaders, Irreversible Entanglements, Blacks' Myths, Heart of the Ghost and Remembrance Quintet.

Unknown Rivers (2024) is the third album from his Silt Trio, following the self-released albums No Trespassing (2020) and The Bottom (Cuneiform, 2022). It highlights the musicians' sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities, tight dialogic dynamics and commitment to driving themes forward through free improvisation. Stewart is a master of deep grooves, and his confident and powerful playing underpins and drives the band's dynamics.