Bart Stenhouse

Australian born multi-instrumentalist and composer Bart Stenhouse has a deep interest in jazz, world, fusion and improvisational styles of music and specialises in the guitar, bass guitar and electric mandolin. His playing style blends different cultures and styles to re-define musical genres and experiment with sonic landscapes.

He has been fine tuning his skills in guitar and bass guitar ever since, completing a Bachelor of Music in Jazz at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2005 and continuing to study privately with some of the world’s best. This has included study with North Indian Classical maestro Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, who plays the Chaturangui (Indian Slide Guitar). Bart has also traveled to Spain and North America to study with different flamenco and jazz musicians, expanding his skill and knowledge in these music genres.

Bart released his debut jazz fusion album ‘Blue Benares’ with percussionist Abe Stewart in February 2014. The album was recorded in the Indian city of Varanasi over nine days and was an intense musical collaboration and partnership with some of India’s finest musicians within the region. Blue Benares is a unique album in that it showcases the skill of Bart and Abe as they worked with local musicians to create raw, original and heartfelt arrangements in a very short time.

In developing his skill and portfolio as a career musician, Bart worked at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music as a Lecturer in Music Technology from 2013 to 2015. Over the years, he has also applied his diverse range of skills to work as a film score composer, music producer and studio and live sound engineer.

His second jazz release, entitled ‘The Best Of Times’, featured three of the best up and coming Australian Jazz musicians: David Galea on electric bass, tenor saxophonist Ben Byrne and Cleon Barraclough on keyboards. ‘The Best Of Times’ was released in 2015 and consists of a fresh mix of Indian classically inspired Jazz with touches of flamenco harmony and spirit. 

In late 2015, his third release ‘Five Days in Granada’ was released featuring flamenco jazz compositions and special guest talented US based vibraphonist James Whiting.

April 2017 saw Bart tour nationally with Indian tabla sensation Surojato Roy from Kolkata (Calcutta) India to sold out concerts and excited response.

Bart Stenhouse is an exciting and rising player on the Australian jazz and world music scene, so expect to see more of him and enjoy listening to his intricate and intriguing work.