During his writing career, he interviewed such major jazz artists as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, Barry Harris, Wayne Shorter and Ornette Coleman.
In 1996, he was a recipient of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in recognition of his liner notes to Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings.
His musical career began in earnest as a tenor saxophonist in Santa Barbara in 1975, where he played in two bands, Crescent and Steamroller, the latter with noted drummer Gary Frommer.
In 2014 he released his debut CD, The Street Is Making Music (MoboDog Records), which has received substantial U.S. and international airplay and several positive reviews.
He names Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker as a principal influences, and also cites Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, and Fats Navarro as models.
[1][4] Among the musicians Stewart has performed with are pianists Albert Dailey, Gildo Mahones, Freddie Redd, Keith Saunders, Art Hillery, and Tardo Hammer; guitarists Bob DeVos and Dave Stryker; bassists Paul Gill, Louis Spears, Bill Moring, John Wiitala, Adam Gay, and Mike Karn; drummers Clarence Johnston, Roy McCurdy, Jimmy Cobb, Ron Marabuto, Tony Reedus, Steve Johns, and Tim Horner; and saxophonists Wilbur Brown, Pat Britt, Frank Morgan, Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman, and Grant Stewart.
He joined both KOVA-FM (Ojai, Ca,) and KTMS-FM (Santa Barbara) in the mid-1970s, and was later heard on two Los Angeles area radio stations:[5] KBCA-FM (later KKGO), 1977 to 1980; and KCRW, 1980 to 1982.