Rory Stuart | jazz guitarist | composer

Reviews

I have been fortunate to receive critical acclaim for my work. Described in JAZZ TIMES as "perhaps THE most innovative straight-ahead jazz guitarist to emerge in years," my two recordings as leader of a quartet have both received 4 star reviews in DOWNBEAT and been voted in the 10 best of the year in CODA. I have twice been voted onto the TDWR in the guitar category on the Downbeat International Critic's Poll. Here are some more things critics have written:

"Virtuoso guitarist" —Jazz Times

"Rory Stuart is an exciting young player who absorbed the legacy of Lester Young and who's kept an ear open to John Coltrane." —Downbeat

"One of the best young players in town."—Village Voice

"Rory Stuart plays clean, carefully developed lines that never allow heat to submerge continuity." —Boston Phoenix

"A promising young guitarist swings mightily backed by an outstanding rhythm section." —Billboard

"... a young guitarist with a bristling tone and an intelligent approach to harmony.." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"Strong fluent soloist..." —-New York Times

"stunning young guitarist." —The New Yorker

"Rory Stuart is one of the freshest new guitarists in jazz. He has a full sound with a long lean style of playing. His quartet has the energetic flow of the Coltrane quartet. Rory Stuart knows the tradition even while pushing most broadly out from that tradition." —Coda

"perhaps THE most innovative straight-ahead jazz guitarist to emerge in years." —Jazz Times

"One of the most exciting bebop-oriented guitarists to emerge in recent memory ...embracing the daring, innovation, purity, and freedom associated with the work of legends such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis." —Guitar Player Magazine