Biography
Buddy Stewart possessed a warm voice and stood out as an early exponent of bop singing whose career ended too soon to allow the influence he might otherwise have exerted during the 1950s. He entered the profession at age eight, appearing in vaudeville as a child performer, and later performed in several ensembles, among them a vocal duo shared with his eventual wife Martha Wayne. During the early 1940s he contributed vocals to the Snowflakes as well as to the orchestras led by Glenn Miller and Claude Thornhill. Following military service from 1942 to 1944, he joined Dave Lambert in Gene Krupa’s band in 1945 and participated in the recording of “What’s This,” widely regarded as the first bop vocal. Over the ensuing years he collaborated intermittently with Lambert and, in 1947, attracted notice for his work alongside Charlie Ventura. Subsequent engagements included a 1948 stint with Kai Winding’s ensemble and a 1949 appearance with Charlie Barnet’s bebop orchestra. His life ended at twenty-seven in an automobile accident. Under his own name Stewart cut five titles in 1948, and he is also documented on recordings with Krupa, Lambert, Ventura, Barnet, and Red Rodney.