User:Stewedbass/sandbox

Danny M Stewart: Bassist / Guitarist / Composer
Early life: Born in Edinburgh Scotland, 1974. Attended West Linton primary school from 4 years old, started taking piano lessons with the late, acclaimed Scottish composer, Ronald Stevenson who cultivated creativity and inspiration for young Danny from age 5 to 7.

Formative years:
Moved from Scotland to Devon around age 7 or 8 after his stepfather fell seriously ill, where his mother worked as a live-in maid for the son of Max Factor, losing touch with Stevenson and piano in the process. Picked up piano again after moving to the Cotswolds two years later, where he resided in a community centre (near to the picturesque town of Chipping Campden) which had a shared piano in the communal dining area.

Developed interest in guitar around age 15 or 16 listening to Santana, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Zappa, Yes, and then later Metallica, Satriani and Vai among other metal, and prog rock artists. Attended Evesham high-school in Warwickshire and was nominated second place for the Wychavon young musician of the year award at age 17 for performances on guitar.

Early professional experience: 1990 - 1997
Was introduced to electric bass at around age 19 and played in a Blues, RnB and cover band locally where an accomplished Jazz pianist (Nick Blunn) took him under his wing, imparting Jazz harmony, theory, and walking bass line concepts for Danny to play on regular gigs around the Midlands. Naturally this lead Danny to double bass, for which he had some guidance from Ronnie Scott's house bassist Tom Hill.

During this time Danny had also been working with and touring with a Jazz-Funk band (The Root Source) fairly regularly and honing fingerstyle funk lines and slap bass techniques. The equally young Stuart Zender of Jamiroquai was a big influence on his playing at this stage.

London: 1998 - 2003
Danny relocated to London in to expand education and start looking for opportunities as a bassist. During this period Danny worked with / toured with / recorded with Tanzanian songwriter Freddie Macha with the Kitoto band, playing Hi-Life and Soukous, Kenyan Nyatiti player and vocalist Ayub Ogada (who was signed to Peter Gabriel's label Real World Records), acclaimed RnB artist Jehlisa Anderson, revered trumpeter Kevin Davy (Lamb, D-Semble), well established London jazz pianist Robert Mitchel (Tomorrow's Warriors), and had the opportunity to record at some of the best studios in the UK, such as Olympic Studios, Abbey Road, BBC Maida vale, among others working with various producers including Jamie Kato of Faithless

During this time he expanded education in music technology and held a position as assistant sound engineer at a project studio in the East end where he honed skills and experience in recording and mixing, where he composed, arranged and produced music for private customers as well as for BBC, Channel 4, Nickelodeon and British RnB/Rap artist Tatiana MaisThat very studio was eventually taken-over by non-other than Dizzee Rascal just prior to his meteoric rise in the UK Hip-Hop scene.

He also sought to improve his playing skills on double bass taking lessons with a few professionals from both Jazz and Classical disciplines including stalwart London Jazz bassist Mario Castronari who had Danny as guest student bassist for the Jazz summer program at the Royal Academy of Music where he got to play with leading Jazz musicians and both learn and help educate young aspiring attendees of the programme.

Tokyo Japan: 2003 to present
After many successes and struggles carving out a living in London Danny relocated to Japan with his wife where he focussed on composing, producing and teaching. Some of the commercial work he took on was for gaming conglomerates Konami and Capcom for titles including Winning Eleven and Resident Evil.

In 2013 he got an endorsement from Japanese guitar maker Deviser, maker of Bacchus, Momose and STR and attended numerous guitar fairs in Japan, as a demonstration artist often making appearances with London guitarist Julian Burdock

In 2017 Danny established his own company Bass Japan Direct, exporting leading Japanese brand bass guitars all over the world.

In addition to that he continues to play live with acclaimed Polish pianist Michal Sobkowiak in their classical-fusion crossover group Trivergents and has toured with Grammy nominated guitarist David Becker, has performed with Japanese pop singer/actor Dean Fujioka and composer Yugo Kanno and has appeared on Japanese radio and television.