Craig "Twister" Steward
Craig "Twister" Steward (October 3, 1949, Marshalltown, Iowa) is a US harmonica player.
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Craig Steward and Frank Zappa
Zappa first saw harmonica player Craig "Twister" Steward in 1972 after a Petit Wazoo performance at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. He was playing with the band "Bliss" at a bar called Caesar's Palace. After playing a "slow Blues in A", Zappa told Steward he would be flying him out to LA to audition. Steward tried out with the band for the '73 tour. After three days of auditioning, Zappa asked him what he thought. Steward replied: "Frank, I think I should go back home". FZ graceously smiled and said, "I think you are right!". Interviewed by Jedd Beaudoin on KMUW, Wichita, Kansas, Steward remembered that Zappa added: "Don't think of this as a failure. You go home and practice and when I say, "Play this here, play that there, you'll have your ear developed to where you can do that."[1] Steward went home, practiced five years, called Zappa back, and he flew him out to record on Joe's Garage.
When Zappa played at Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas in 1980, he invited Steward on stage with The Mothers to solo on A Pound For A Brown On The Bus.
Steward returned to his home town of Wichita and works as the City Arborist. Active musically in Wichita performing, writing and recording his own compositions. In 2006, Steward was planning the publication of his music and two books.
Craig "Twister" Steward played harmonica on:
Frank Zappa about Craig Steward
FZ: "He sounds like Coltrane on the harmonica, and I mean fast like you won't believe. This guy is like the Al Di Meola of the harmonica."
