Stew Cutler

In a career spanning over 4 decades, jazz/blues/gospel guitarist/composer Stew Cutler has established himself as a bandleader, composer, arranger, and teacher. With six record releases to his credit as a bandleader and countless sessions as a sideman, Cutler’s prolific career is a walk-through musical history.
 
Cutler was born and raised in New York City and, through his innate musical talents, found the guitar at an early age. The guitar and Cutler were destined to be together, and at 19 years old, Cutler landed his first job with blues legend Z.Z. Hill. Over time, Cutler immersed himself in studying music, and soon thereafter, Cutler was working with instrumental avant-garde artists Bobby Previte and Eliot Sharp. Cutler moved to Woodstock, NY, and worked with bassist Harvey Brooks along with many well-known artists that were merging in that musical kaleidoscope.

Cutler has worked as a sideman with many musical greats, including Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Fontella Bass (featured on Bass’ Grammy-nominated album No Ways Tired), Earl King, Jimmy Castor, and many more. Cutler has also worked with jazz greats David Sanborn, Bill Frisell, Lester Bowie, Charlie Hunter, and Wayne Horvitz, to name a few, as well as artists as diverse as Meatloaf, Jeb Loy Nichols, David Fanshawe, Sweet Georgia Brown, and Jimmy Dale Gilmore, among others.
 
Cutler’s first two releases, “Trio Music” on Fountainbleu Records and “Insignia” on the Naim label, showcased the identifiable sound that Cutler developed by combining R&B, jazz, melody, and noise. With his 3rd release, “So Many Streams” (Fountainbleu), Cutler gets back to basics by digging into the blues and American roots. Cutler’s 4th release, titled “Trio Live,” features Cutler’s guitar prowess with an incredible live performance. His 5th release, titled “After Hours,” finds Cutler paying tribute to his jazz and soul roots.
 
His 2017 critically acclaimed release titled “Every Sunday Night” is a studio recording that captures Cutler’s working band that has a standing Sunday night residency at Arthur’s Tavern in New York City’s Greenwich Village. It showcases the energy of the live Sunday night gig, and the result is an incredible romp through covers and originals that the band makes their own. Cutler is supported by his working band organization, including Bobby Harden (vocals), Bill McClellan (drums), Nick Semrad (organ), Jullian Pollack (organ), Chulo Gatewood (bass), and JT Bowen (vocals). In 2018 Cutler was invited to perform on the last European tour of Queen Esther Marrow and the Harlem Gospel Singers. Gospel music fans came out to see this legendary performer who received critical acclaim along with a number of notable mentions of Stew’s soulful guitar stylings.

In 2019, Cutlers’ Guitar can be found on the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s latest film, “The Irishman.” Cutler is performing the standard “How High the Moon.” Cutlers’ recognizable sound evokes a dreamlike mood, which fits the scene perfectly and is one of the musical highlights in the movie.
 
In 2020 Cutler was cast as part of the soundtrack for the streaming Amazon TV series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. An American comedy/drama set in the late 1950s portraying a New York housewife who finds she has a knack for comedy. You can hear Cutler’s playing on the soundtrack of seasons 2 and 3. In the upcoming season 4, Cutler will be on camera as well as the soundtrack, featured in the strip club house band, The Wolford Band. 

Since the Covid shutdown, Cutler has performed in a number of streaming gigs, most notably Pandemusic NYC in Brooklyn, NY, on Halloween 2020. The streamed show had over 17K viewers and ranked #1 of all the shows streamed by Pandemusic NYC thus far. Cutler is working on a new recording that is planned for release in late 2021 or early 2022. Another eclectic mix of originals and covers featuring legendary guitarist Mike Stern and master harmonica player James Montgomery. This could be Cutler’s finest recording to date.