Louis Stewart's 1980 album I Thought About You is set for release in May

Louis Stewart's 1980 quartet album I Thought About You is set for re-release, available May 29 through Livia Records.

The extended record was remixed and remastered by Seán Mac Erlaine– featuring pianist John Taylor, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Higgins. It will be available for download, CD and LP.

The Irish jazz guitarist originally recorded I Thought About You on 2’’ tape in March of 1977 at London’s Olympic Studios. The following year, Stewart returned to Dublin and recorded alternate solos on some tracks, leading to complications from using a hybrid combination of two tape sources.

When the tape was digitised by FX Labs in London, an alternate version of ‘November Girl’ and Miles Davis’s ‘All Blues’ were revealed. Those tracks are available for CD and download only.

Stewart was beloved in the Irish music scene, and his legacy lives on past his death in 2016. He earned an honorary Doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 1988, and an Aosdána membership in 2009 from the Arts Body council for his “outstanding contribution to the creative arts in Ireland.” He made appearances in over 70 albums, with his last being Tunes in 2013, and earned acclaim from musicians like Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Jim Hall and Pat Martino.

Livia Records was Ireland’s first jazz label established in 1977. Their first release was Stewart’s solo album Out On His Own, and they reactivated the company in 2021. The recent reissueings are part of a programme led by their new owner Dermot Rogers.