Isaiah Stewart's two albums – URBAN PLAYGROUND and LIFE GAMES – deliver explosive all-original music that unites the worlds of jazz, funk, rock and r&b into one powerful musical experience.
Since releasing his debut album 10 years ago, Isaiah Stewart's music has been downloaded more than one-half million times in 28 different countries worldwide.
Isaiah’s global popularity as a recording artist began to heat up during the week of August 8, 2001, when “Midtown Funk,” the hit jazz/funk song from LIFE GAMES, hit #15 on MP3.com’s overall Top 40, beating out tracks from popular artists such as Eminem, Faith Hill, Madonna, Linkin Park, Mariah Carey, The Offspring and Sum 41.
At the time, MP3.com was the world’s No. 1 mp3 Internet site (receiving worldwide traffic of over 30 million visitors a month), and throughout the month of August 2001, Isaiah often held spots #1 through #14 on the site's Jazz Top 20. This meant that every single track on LIFE GAMES occupied all the site's top chart positions at the same time.
The success of LIFE GAMES enabled Isaiah to build The Playground, his own state-of-the-art 24-bit digital recording studio in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Playground is where Isaiah composed, recorded and produced his sophomore album, URBAN PLAYGROUND.
A professional drummer since the age of 9, Isaiah is known for his technically impressive and groove-oriented approach to playing. He has studied drums with many of the world's leading players, including Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Terry Bozzio, Mike Portnoy, Virgil Donati, Steve Smith, Dave Garibaldi, Joel Rosenblatt, Randy Castillio, Chad Wackerman, Rod Morgenstein, Akira Jimbo and Greg Bissonnette.
A Salt Lake City native, Isaiah drummed and composed professionally in Los Angeles throughout the 1980s, primarily as a sideman for JOSHUA STEWART, a funk-oriented jazz-fusion quartet (featuring his three brothers) that enjoyed popularity in Los Angeles’ local jazz scene.
It was in Los Angeles that Isaiah performed in many of the same jazz clubs as Kenny G, Robben Ford, Richard Elliot, Jeff Lorber, Tom Scott, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Browne, Alphonse Mouzon and Adam Holzman (most recent keyboardest for late jazz legend Miles Davis).
Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Isaiah joined HEADLINES, one of the most popular Top 40 bands in Utah. As a full-time member of HEADLINES, Isaiah performed nearly 600 shows over the course of seven years. HEADLINES was featured on national television two consecutive years when the band was chosen to perform for the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs and finals in 1996 and ‘97.
As a session drummer, Isaiah has performed on countless TV and radio commercials and completed session work for recording artists that include Kem Kraft, Terence Hansen, Void of Course, Rick Sharette, Fortress of Human Nature, Alan Bachman, Nathan Marshall, Infra-Red, Mishpaka Drummers, Forward and Bad Chemestry.
