Interview with Leroy Elliott (Slam) Stewart

Interview with Leroy Elliott (Slam) Stewart

Stewart, Leroy Elliott (Slam) ; O'Neil, Dan

Stewart, Leroy Elliott (Slam) -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Englewood (N.J.); Boston Conservatory; Musicians -- Interviews; Goodman, Benny; Benny Goodman Sextet; Slam Stewart Trio; Garner, Earl; Tatum, Art; Gaillard, Slim; State University of New York at Binghamton; Yale University

Leroy Elliott (Slam) Stewart, born in Englewood, NJ, describes his young life and education. He studied the  bass violin in high school and after graduation attended the Boston Conservatory of Music. He details his professional career, teaming up with Slim Gaillard, Art Tatum, and later Earl Garner to become "the Slam Stewart Trio." He went on to join the Benny Goodman Sextet, traveling all over the world, developing a distinct style of playing and eventually publishing a book, The Techniques of Bass. He speaks about his big-hit composition "Flat Foot Floogie," which received a gold record and was buried in a time capsule at the World's Fair in New York in 1939. He also describes his numerous recordings and his work in film. He mentions his fellowships with SUNY Binghamton and Yale University.

1978-04-26

This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information.

Recording 58

2016-03-27

Broome County Oral History Project

32:14 Minutes

Broome County Oral History Project
Interview with: Leroy Elliott (Slam) Stewart
Interview by: Dan O’Neil
Date of interview: 26 April 1978

Dan: Well Slam, would you give me the—your life and working experiences starting with your date and place of birth?

Slam: Well I was born, ah, born and raised in ah, Englewood, New Jersey, quite a few years ago—that goes back to 1914, and of course I, coming up, I went through at least got through High School and ah as far as ah my musical career, I may as well start out by saying that ah who, when I was about ah six years old seven years old, I started out playing the little violin—squeak box—and ah it lasted for a while until I ah got into my first year in High School and ah somehow I didn't care for too much for the little violin—I became interested in the ah big fiddle—the bull fiddle, which they happened to have in the school—in the music room at school and somehow I got around to the point of trying, trying this bass fiddle out and I had to have one of the ah violinists in the orchestra to show me how to even tune it—I didn't even have the ah, didn't have the ah knowledge of the big one so that's the way I started playing my ah bass fiddle—that's what started me ah in my bass fiddle car—well my career, you might say, playing music. After I got out of the High School I went to Boston Conservatory of Music—this was around 1934 and ah studied for a year or two in Boston. At the same time, I was getting quite a bit of experience playing to a couple of nightclubs in and around Boston and that was the beginning of ah, you might say ah my musical happenings. Of course while I was ah playing and working at music around Boston—I wouldn’t say that I wasn't, I hadn't really become a professional at that time until I ah left Boston a few years after I started up there and ah came back close to home around New York City, where I, I made my rounds ah getting into everything I could get into musically, that is ah jam sessions uptown and Harlem and what have you and ah I ah started working on ah 52nd Street. Of course before then—that came a little later 52nd Street—before then, I teamed up with ah a young man ah we ah called ourselves ah this other fella’s name was Slim, Slim Gaillard that is and of course I teamed up with Slim and ah we were trying to get a professional name for me—he'd already more or less had been a professional—so we were trying to get a name for me and ah that’s how I came upon the name of "Slam" ah playing with ah doin our act together "Slim and Slam" for me and so that was really the beginning of my ah professional ah career in, in music—playing the bass fiddle and during this time I, I had developed a style of playing the bass ah in a way that ah no other bass player really in the jazz field had played it. Matter of fact I, I studied ah a technique of humming my hot jazz solos and humming along with ah what I played an octave higher than what I was playing to make this ah, you might say, a unique ah jazz style of playing the bass and it became quite popular. So I kept that in and I’M still, still trying to do it today and enhance upon it of course. I'm always trying to learn something new and ah like I said that was the beginning of my professional career in ah music. After I was with Slim, Slim and I lasted about oh maybe two or three years—something like that. Then ah our team broke up because he had to go into the Army and ah—

Dan: This was around the first World War: 1919, 1918?

Slam: That's right—no not quite that far back.

Dan: No let’s see, that would be 2nd World War.

Slam: The second one, yeah.

Dan: This goes back to ’41.

Slam: ’41 - right.

Dan: OK.

Slam: Of course Slim and I, we collaborated upon the, a huge, a great big, big hit record which was ah called, everybody I know everybody will remember it, "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)."

Dan: Ah that was a big hit.

Slam: That was our, our big hit.

Dan: Uh huh, in other words did you compose that yourself?

Slam: Well Slim and I collaborated upon this, this ah number.

Dan: The lyrics and the words?

Slam: Yes that's right.

Dan: Is that right—that was a big number—I can remember that myself.

Slam: That was really it for us.

Mrs. Stewart: They buried it in the time capsule at the World's Fair.

Dan: Is that right?

Slam: Buried in the time capsule—the World's Fair ah 1939.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: Yes, in New York so anyway after I broke up with ah—we broke up and I went my way. I ah, I played with ah a couple of groups—that's when I started ah more or less working on the famous ah 52nd Street ah I ah before I went on the street that is, I joined, ah, Art Tatum—the great blind pianist. I joined Art Tatum out in California and ah, we, ah, did quite a few things out on the coast and worked our way back to ah to New York City, that is 52nd Street where I played with ah Art Tatum—this on ah at a place called the “Three Deuces” and that was really ah the beginning of a wonderful career. I ah played there with Art Tatum until, ah, see, ah, Art Tatum became ah, ill one night—he couldn't make our sessions, ah, so I tried to make ends meet by ah—I had heard of a wonderful ah pianist down the street at another club and ah his name was Earl, Earl Garner.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: And ah I had been down to this club listening to Earl once in a while, he was workin’ about the same time on the Street—that's what we called 52nd Street, the street you know.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: And ah somehow, ah, I got an idea—this place the “Three Deuces” where, where I was working ah—it was left upon me really. The manager of the place asked me to see what I could do to replace ah Art Tatum—he couldn't make it and thought for a minute, why didn't I run down the Street and see Earl Garner and see if he can kind of help us out—so that's what I did and ah he ah, his boss, Earl's boss, he was working a place called the Torondelaose an his boss—I asked his boss and Earl, could Earl help me out to play a couple of sets or so with me in the “Three Deuces” while Art couldn't, couldn’t make it and it, it was so nice of his boss to let Earl do this, ah, Earl with—here's what happened—Earl would play his couple of sets in his place and run down to my place the “Three Deuces,” our place and fill in and took Art, Art Tatum's place with what we call eventually my trio and we had on guitar John Collins at the time and so that happened for ah ah few nights. Art wasn't still able to make it. As a matter of fact ah we found out that Art was becoming very seriously ill so he had to go back to California so that ah left it up to me to keep things going at the “Three Deuces” which eventually ah Earl Garner’s boss let him join me ah permanently, you know—it was awfully nice of him to ah to have him to do that, you know—so Earl became a permanent, ah, member of ah my trio.

Dan: And you called yourself what?

Slam: The "Slam Stewart Trio."

Dan: "Slam Stewart Trio."

Mrs. Stewart: And you took him into the Strand Theater too.

Slam: Yes and I ah I eventually we ah got ah hold of a drummer when made it a "Slam Stewart Quartet" and which my wife just said that ah we went, we played the ah quite a few theaters up and down the east coast especially the ah Strand Theater in New York City and that lasted for quite a while on and off ah let’s see around ’46.

Mrs. Stewart: ’45.

Slam: ’45 I got an offer from Benny Goodman, who was working down the street not too far from the ah “Three Deuces” on 6th Avenue at the ah theater which was, which was called ah “Seven Lively Arts” I believe it was and ah it was sort of a show that Benny and his sextet was doing at the theater. So I got a call from Benny if he asked me would I play the show with him, which I do it, which I did and ah it wasn't too hard on me because ah the show ah started at 9 o'clock, I think it went from 9 until approximately 10 to 10:30 and at the same time I went and did this show with ah Benny, Benny Goodman and at the same time I had to rush back to the “Three Deuces” to fulfill that ah gig there, you know—so that was the first time I had experience with ah Benny Goodman.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: And during that time of course, Earl Garner left me and ah went his way with his own group and ah I stayed with Benny Goodman and that lasted for a year or so.

Mrs. Stewart: Two years.

Slam: Yeah.

Mrs. Stewart: You forgot to tell him that in the early ’40s you made a lot of movies.

Slam: Oh yes I—

Mrs. Stewart: You did a Broadway show too.

Slam: I did a Broadway show with ah ah Lady Day, Billie Holliday and I also did I think another one—Broadway show, I forget the name of it but anyway I was—

Dan: Was this when you were with Earl Garner?

Slam: Ah—

Dan: Or was this "Slam Stewart Trio"?

Slam: Slam Stewart, ah, Trio.

Dan: Yes, with Earl Garner.

Slam: No, no I was in and out ah in other words it could have been when I was with Goodman.

Dan: Yeah.

Slam: But ah the one show that I did at the Strand Theater, I had Earl Garner with me then.

Dan: I see.

Slam: At that time but ah, ah when I went with ah Goodman I, that isn't all that I did, you know, I would ah do a little other things outside of playing ah ah Benny—I was recording, in fact I recorded quite a bit.

Dan: Umhm.

Slam: During the ’40s, I recorded on just about with everybody you can think of and I must have made ah, which included Benny Goodman Sextet, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie—you name them, I—

Dan: (laughter)

Slam: I made so many recordings I must have made during the ’40s at least up to 200 or more 250 or more sides with ah different groups.

Dan: Uh huh—any gold records in there?

Slam: Any ah gold records?

Mrs. Stewart: Most of it was classics.

Slam: Ah most of them—not ah that one the for that I did with Slim—that was a gold record.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: “Flat Foot Floogie.”

Dan: Yeah.

Slam: And ah let’s see what others—I made so many recordings that I can't remember them.

Dan: Uh huh—sure.

Slam: You know it is kind of hard.

Dan: Where have you been in your travels, Slam?

Slam: Well I have, ah, I've been quite a few places in the world. I've been to Europe, ah, I've been to Australia—I've never been to Japan or China, but ah, most, ah, many places in Europe.

Dan: Umhm.

Slam: And I’ve been to ah not South America—what's the place—the island?

Mrs. Stewart: Puerto Rico.

Slam: Puerto Rico.

Dan: Uh huh.

Mrs. Stewart: Hawaii.

Slam: Hawaii—that’s right.

Dan: Now is this with a group, Slam?

Slam: Well ah, ah, I ah, I joined a group on, ah, most of the places.

Dan: I see, I see.

Slam: You know.

Dan: In other words you were a soloist and then you joined a group at each place that you went.

Slam: That's right, yes.

Mrs. Stewart: He's appeared about 20 times just since we've been in Binghamton.

Slam: Oh sure, yes.

Mrs. Stewart: And taking your own groups too.

Slam: Yeah, well the years have passed and ah, oh, I've been through quite a, quite a few things. Say, for instance, I’ve ah, been with, ah, Benny Goodman again, my second time around with him, and—

Dan: Were you with Duke Ellington at any time?

Slam: No, I've never been with him—I've sat in with him.

Dan: Cab Calloway?

Slam: Ah no, I've never—the only large band that I've had experience with is, ah, Benny Goodman's large band.

Dan: Yeah.

Slam: Which I recorded with, mostly.

Dan: Right.

Slam: But ah most of my experience with Benny Goodman ever was just with the, ah, small group.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: Sextet.

Mrs. Stewart: One of the movies you made was with Cab.

Slam: Yeah I made one movie with ah which Cab was in.

Mrs. Stewart: Fats Waller.

Slam: With Fats Waller.

Mrs. Stewart: You played the sax in that one.

Slam: Yeah.

Mrs. Stewart: But Cab's Band was in the movie—he made more than one movie though—this sounds like he made one—he made a lot of additional—still running too—see them on television.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: This one we’re talking about, ah, was called “Stormy Weather.”

Dan: Umhm.

Mrs. Stewart: <i>Hellzapoppin’</i>—you were in that.

Slam: <i>Hellzapoppin’</i>—I was in that. “Oh Boy What a Girl.”

Mrs. Stewart: “Red, White and Blue.”

Slam: What have you—oh geez.

Dan: Where were these movies made, were they made down in New York?

Slam: No, in Hollywood.

Dan: Hollywood, uh huh.

Slam: A long time has passed.

Dan: Well you’re still active, aren't you Slam?

Slam: Yes I am, ah, fairly active—not as much as I used to be of course. I have, ah, played with ah symphonies, say for instance with the, ah, Indianapolis Symphony, the Binghamton Symphony of course and Toronto Symphony and I played with the Lincoln String Quartet, ah.

Mrs. Stewart: Harpsichordist.

Slam: Harpsichordist.

Mrs. Stewart: Classical music.

Slam: Classical, yes.

Dan: Now when did you come to Binghamton, Slam?

Slam: I came to Binghamton about 10 years ago.

Dan: 10 years ago.

Slam: Yeah.

Dan: And for what reason?

Slam: Well on account of the young lady whom I'm married to.

Dan: Well that's about as good a reason as I can think of. (laughter)

Slam: Yes indeed and I find it has been my most happy experience in life. Has been wonderful and very good to me all the way around.

Dan: Yeah, well it's the—your life has been very rewarding—there’s a lot of memories and everything but you're on the go all the time.

Slam: Well yes like I say not as much as I used to I—

Dan: Not now but I mean in your prime you were pretty busy.

Slam: Oh yes, I had been very busy, which I didn't mind at all you know.

Dan: No, no, when you're younger why you can take it.

Slam: That's for sure.

Mrs. Stewart: Ah Marge Hinman was surprised—remember when you did the historic architecture—this house is in it.

Dan: This house is in it?

Mrs. Stewart: In the Broome County ah Historical Societies Architecture.

Dan : Oh it is.

Mrs. Stewart: Yeah and she said she was so shocked when she found out that Slam and I owned it.

Dan: Oh is that right. There’s another gentleman, I’m going to Friday to Windsor, another gentleman, his name is English and his house is in the—that same book.

Mrs. Stewart: Umhm.

Dan: That house was built in 1823 and it also served as an underground railroad station.

Slam: Oh yes.

Mrs. Stewart: This is 1870.

Dan: 1870, uh huh.

Mrs. Stewart: And it's all ours.

Dan: That’s wonderful.

Slam: It's all ours.

Dan: Well that’s great, that's great. So anyway you went to High School and you went to the Boston Conservatory of Music.

Slam: That's right.

Dan: And that’s where you took up the bass viol and, ah, specialized and from there on expanded.

Slam: Ah.

Dan: Have you been in England?

Slam: I've been in England, yes.

Dan: Have you played before the Queen of England?

Slam: No I—

Mrs. Stewart: Played at Royal Albert Hall though.

Slam: Royal Albert Hall there and she may have been there during one of our performances there.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: Oh I’ve been quite a few places, ah, Italy and Spain, Germany, Finland.

Mrs. Stewart: Sweden.

Slam: Yeah.

Dan: Now is this a tour that you took yourself Slam?

Slam: No I—

Dan: A tour or was that mapped out for you?

Slam: It was mapped out for us—in fact I was with Goodman on quite a few of them.

Dan: I see.

Slam: Ah tours when I played. I've been to France quite a few times on my own, ah I've done, ah, quite a bit of recording there in France, in fact I was, ah, part, I played part of, ah, background music for a picture or two that were made in, ah, France.

Dan: I see—now have you done any more composing at all?

Slam: Well not, ah really, no I haven't—I'm thinking very seriously about, ah, taking it a little more easier than I'm doing now and just do some ah some more composing—the Wife and I.

Dan: Yeah.

Slam: You know I think—

Mrs. Stewart: He has a published book though…

Slam: I have a book on, ah, bass.

Dan: Oh, you have published a book on bass?

Slam: <i>The Technique on Bass</i>.

Dan: Is that right—when was that published?

Slam: Oh that was published back in the ’40s.

Dan: 1940s, yeah. Are you a musician too, Mrs. Stewart?

Mrs. Stewart: Yes.

Slam: Yes she is.

Dan: That's wonderful.

Slam: Plays a wonderful, ah, piano.

Dan: Well that's great—you've got a lot in common.

Slam: We've done quite a few things together.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: Schools and what have you—in this area too.

Mrs. Stewart: I play as little as I can get away with, Dan.

Dan: (laughter)

Mrs. Stewart: I think maybe if you read his biography in <i>Who’s Who</i>—it might help you. <i>Who's Who in America</i>—I have it right here.

Dan: Ah he's been in <i>Who's Who in America</i>?

Mrs. Stewart: He is in it and now he's in the next edition—they just sent me a copy of it.

Slam: Well yes.

Dan: It must make you very proud, Slam.

Slam: Oh thank you.

Dan: Honest to God it's remarkable.

Mrs. Stewart: Well he's played major countries all over the world.

Dan: Blessed to have a community like this to have such famous men.

Slam: Ah it's wonderful.

Mrs. Stewart: He goes out and plays and he's been every country all over the world he's played and he'll come home and I’ll say “How”—you know there's nothing out there—it’s all here.

Slam: Yeah.

Dan: Were you in service at all, Slam?

Slam: No I didn’t make the, ah, service.

Dan: Uh huh—well you kept yourself busy, though.

Slam: Yes.

Dan: Now do you belong to any organizations or anything like that?

Slam: Well yes, ah, at the time, I belonged to the Sertoma organization here and outside of that ah—

Mrs. Stewart: You’re a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church.

Slam: Yes.

Dan: Oh you are—Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church?

Slam: Yes.

Dan: Is that here in Binghamton?

Slam: In Endicott.

Dan: Oh, it's in Endicott.

Slam: Yes.

Dan: Yeah—one of our girls belongs to that same church.

Slam: Uh yeah.

Dan: Yeah—well is there anything else you would like to tell me, Slam, before I turn off this machine?

Mrs. Stewart: He has two fellowships—he has one from Newing here and one from—

Dan: I think he's being very shy about his accomplishments.

Mrs. Stewart: Yeah I always had—

Dan: Now he's got these fellowships from where?

Mrs. Stewart: He has from Newing College here at the University and he has one from the Yale University.

Dan: Yale?

Mrs. Stewart: Yeah, we just came back from Yale—he goes back all the time. We've just gotten back last Saturday in fact another beautiful session. He’s very involved in Yale University.

Dan: Uh huh, well that's great.

Mrs. Stewart: I saw him last week performing with the students and it was—

Dan: I suppose you get quite a few requests from the students over at the University to perform.

Slam: Oh yes, I have.

Mrs. Stewart: You know it's funny—the young students decided themselves, with no help, that they wanted to play their Prom this year.

Dan: Uh huh.

Slam: And he's going to Charleston to play this Filado Festival and that was the same date and about 3 days after they decided they could, I got a call from our University saying their students had decided the same thing. Yeah.

Dan: Well you can’t be two places at the same time.

Slam: That's right.

Mrs. Stewart: No he couldn't be at either one of them, which was sad, because he would have liked to have done this, you know—but he was really thrilled that the kids came up with the idea themselves.

Dan: Well I certainly appreciate this interview, Slam.

Slam: Oh that's all right. I wish I could remember some more things.

Dan: Well with all the places you've been, it's remarkable that you remember what you did.

Mrs. Stewart: Well he's probably been to Europe twenty times.

Slam: Oh sure.

Mrs. Stewart: Closest he's been to Binghamton to Europe.

Dan: Twenty times just since he's been here—that's in the last 10 years.

Mrs. Stewart: Yeah.

Dan: And that's not counting the number of times he's been to Europe.

Mrs. Stewart: Before.

Dan: Before.

Mrs. Stewart: Since he began going in the ’40s.

Slam: That's right, sure.

Dan: Well that's great. Well I’ll ah turn this off and play it back for you if you like, Slam.

1978-04-26

O'Neil, Dan

Stewart, Leroy Elliott (Slam)

32:14 Minutes

2016-03-27

Broome County Oral History Project

Stewart, Leroy Elliott (Slam) -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Englewood (N.J.); Boston Conservatory; Musicians -- Interviews; Goodman, Benny; Benny Goodman Sextet; Slam Stewart Trio; Garner, Earl; Tatum, Art; Gaillard, Slim; State University of New York at Binghamton; Yale University

This audio file and digital image may only be used for educational purposes. Please cite as: Broome County Oral History Project, Special Collections, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton University, State University of New York. For usage beyond fair use please contact the Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections for more information.