Michael "Patches" Stewart has built his career mainly by stepping into the trumpet chair once held by Miles Davis. When performing muted alongside Marcus Miller, his phrasing and tone frequently evoke Davis’s style from the final phase of the trumpeter’s life. Stewart turned professional at age sixteen and cut his first record that year as a sideman on a Patti LaBelle session. Subsequent engagements have placed him in the company of Quincy Jones, David Sanborn, George Duke, and Whitney Houston, while an eight-year tenure in Al Jarreau’s backing ensemble formed a sustained chapter in his résumé. Beginning in the mid-1990s, his most prominent ongoing collaboration has been with Marcus Miller, whose ensemble deliberately recalls the sound of Miles Davis’s last band. Beyond those projects, Stewart has issued his own recordings on the Hip Bop imprint.
