Charles Stuart-Piano/Soul/Funk
Charles Stuart is a multi-talented musician, singer and songwriter who, drawing on his british/dominican heritage and his love of old soul/reggae/funk, creates snapshots of London life, armed with his sly and subversive wit to deliver a soulful dub, folk, experimental, groovy kind of leftfield pop.Stuart began writing music at 11 when a piano was donated “that somebody didn’t want. So I started teaching myself a few chords here and there… I’d learn one chord and write four songs around that. I’d learn another chord to go with it and write another 10 songs around those…”Being part of large family Stuart was exposed to every kind of music and you can hear this eclectic fusion of these influences in his writing. “My brother Paul was into jazz funk so I got to hear The Crusaders, Roy Ayers and Steely Dan. Another brother Peter was into the Human League and Two Tone stuff. My sister was into lovers rock, people like Carole Thompson, Janet Kay…I’d got into Scritti Politi, Duran Duran and rap and hip-hop was starting to filter in. It was amazing to have all this stuff going on.”Stuart mainly plays keyboards, but also uses a range of vintage synths and effects pedals, as well as guitars and drum machine/samplers to build his arrangements. He brings this flexibility to his live performances, whether accompanying himself solo on piano, or triggering loops and effects in duos and trios to working with a full band.