The Moe Z Show

Moezart Stewart wears many hats -- 55 to be exact. Sometimes he covers his dark shiny head with a brown beret. He has this fuzzy purple hat that looks like a short top hat and a rug morphed into one. Another hat bears his stage name "Moe Z" in big, white. gothic letters. He also has a hat that's black and says "Thug life," a concept he learned a lot about while producing Tupac Shakur's Me Against The World. Sometimes he wears hats on stage while playing keyboards in John Mellencamp's band, but they have to be OK with the boss. Rarely can he be found without some kind of hat on stage.\nStewart wears many hats in the clichéd, metaphorical sense, too. He plays the saxophone, flute, guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, he sings and is most famous for playing the keyboards. He's produced several rap stars including Tupac, Spice 1 and Yo Yo. And once, he even sang back up for Michael Bolton.\nFrom the time Stewart began crawling, he has had a fascination with music. His family raised him well, and he survived a tough Los Angeles high school. Since then, he's walked a musical path that has lead him to play and produce with artists most people only dream of meeting. For years Stewart has taken roles as a supporting cast member. But the jack of all trades, tired of being known as the "guy who plays all those instruments," is ready to make a run of his own.\nBABY MOE\nStewart was born in Clarksdale, Miss., a small college town similar to Bloomington. When he was 10, his family moved to Long Beach, Calif. The culture change from a small town to the big city came as a bit of a shock.\n"When I first moved there I was a country boy," Stewart says. \nStewart attended Polytechnic High School and adjusted quickly to the different culture. Among his classmates at Polytechnic were Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G and his own distant cousin Nate Dogg.\n"They were pretty much delinquents then," Moe says of the rap stars in their early years. \nStewart loved basketball and played all the time. But he still managed to study often and notched straight A's in his early years in Long Beach. Eventually gang life started to lure him away from his everyday routine.\n"I started to care less about school, and the 'in' thing was to gangbang," Stewart says. \nThe stylish life of a gangster tempted Stewart into a different type of living. He followed gang life for a while until he witnessed a man murder a boy from his street for calling the man "blood." Stewart says the man, a Crypt, was from another city where "blood" had a different meaning. \n"Where we were from, black people called each other 'blood,' because black people were our blood. We were all Crypts, and today if you call someone 'blood' it means something completely different," Stewart says.\nThe incident struck Stewart deeply and put his life in perspective.\n"I decided, 'This is not for me,'" Stewart says.\nMoe figured he had two choices that could change his life -- his first was basketball.\n"Everybody told me I was too short to play basketball, even though I had the skills. So my other alternative was music," he says. Music wasn't anything new to Stewart. \n"When Moe was a baby, he would crawl around and if he saw a record he'd stop at it and start snapping his fingers," says Moe's mother, Mary Stewart. It didn't take him much longer to get on the stage.\nHe started singing at age 5, breaking into songs by Al Greene and Michael Jackson at talent shows his mother organized at the school where she taught.\n"Moe used to sing and dance like Michael (Jackson). He'd do the Moonwalk." Mary Stewart says. \nAt age 10 he learned to play the drums, and from there tried to play the guitar. His hands weren't strong enough yet, and it was difficult for him to play the six-string. But he was determined to learn, so he took off two strings and kept the strings he could play -- the bass strings.\nLearning the bass paved the way for the piano, and Stewart didn't stop there. His family formed its own gospel group called The Stewart Family, and Moe began playing keyboards and producing for the group as a teenager. He loved to produce, so his family created a studio in their own home. Stewart played in a couple bands and eventually produced music for an independent movie. It was just the beginning of his musical career.\nTUPAC AND THE THUG LIFE \nStewart was traveling in Germany when he heard the news. Tupac Shakur had been shot and killed in Las Vegas.\n"It was rough," Stewart remembers. "After the first time he was shot, I thought he was invincible."\nStewart was supposed to be with Shakur when the first murder attempt occurred, but luckily, he was busy and didn't make it. The death was surprising to Stewart, but he had sensed the danger surrounding Shakur. \n"There were people that were around him that were getting killed that didn't get as much attention." Stewart says. "Part of the reason I left Cali was being associated with him… I was low-key, really, but I thought that I was more in danger than I was. It was part of the reason I moved to Indiana.\n"Everybody had security. Me? I can't afford security."\nShakur might have had a warning the night of the Holyfield/Tyson fight (after which he was killed), Stewart says. Many rap stars had been told not to attend the fight. "People were going low-key, and were bringing tight security," Stewart says. \nStewart says the police never questioned one of Shakur's cousins, who was in the car behind Shakur when he was shot. \n"He was the only one the police didn't question, and he was the one that knew a lot of stuff about what happened," Stewart says. Shakur's cousin was found dead in New Jersey a week later.\nStewart and Shakur had formed a tight relationship while recording Me Against the World, an album that procured the Grammy-nominated "Dear Mama." Stewart calls the time he spent with Shakur "the most awesome experience ever."\n"We were a perfect match. Tupac was like me, but on a lyrical tip. He was a perfectionist with his words, but he could write 'em like that," Stewart says. "Spice 1 took three days to sit and write a track." \nShakur and Stewart were constantly recording. Since Shakur's death, several Tupac albums have been released, and Moe Z has his own collection of work he's done with Shakur. \n"He (Shakur) wanted to be with me in the studio every night, and if I couldn't, he was in the studio with somebody else. That's why he's got a million songs," Stewart says.\nShakur instilled in Stewart a confidence that other artists haven't quite given him. \n"He had so much respect for me as a musician and a person. He trusted me and it made me feel good about making certain decisions. That's the only time I've ever gotten that feeling."\nMR. HAPPY GO LUCKY\nIn the mid-'90s Stewart's publisher told him that Indiana rock and roll legend John Mellencamp wanted him to produce a track on Mr. Happy Go Lucky. So he packed up all of his musical equipment and flew to Bloomington for a two-day recording session. Upon arriving at the session, Stewart quickly realized his services were required simply for a drum loop for "This May Not Be The End of the World," and he'd brought most of his equipment for nothing.\n"John said, 'We've got this song, and we want to see if you can put a drum loop on it. We've got two days, if it works, it's cool, and if it doesn't, don't worry about it -- you came out to Indiana and had fun.'" \nIt did work. And it turned out to be fun. \nMellencamp eventually asked Stewart why he'd brought an so much equipment to Bloomington for just a drum loop. Stewart told him he thought he was supposed to produce. \nAfter the laughter subsided, Stewart remembers Mellencamp looked at him and said, "Well, let's see what you can do."\nMellencamp was impressed with his various talents and invited Moe to join the band for their upcoming tour.\n"Are you serious?" Stewart asked. \nHe was.\n"He told me to use him as a stepping stone," Moe says.\nStewart has played and recorded with Mellencamp since, and is also the first person ever to rap on a Mellencamp record. He says they're planning a tour for the summer that should be bigger than last year's.\nREADY FOR HIS OWN\nStewart's resume is impressive. Besides Mellencamp, Skakur and Spice 1, Stewart has worked with Earth Wind and Fire, the Wallflowers, Big Daddy Kane, the Wu-Tang Clan, Michael Bolton, Jasmine Guy, Tisha Campbell, Tevin Campbell, Carrie Newcomer, the Why Store and New Edition. Locally, Stewart plays with the Rich Hardesty Band, ex-Mellencamp member Toby Myers, Stone Carnival and Bahama Llama. But despite his lengthy resume, Stewart's hopes his career is still just beginning.\nStewart has recorded two albums, Child Support and Moezart's Art Gallery, but neither has been officially released. \n"Every time I record something, and get ready to put it out and make a run for it, John comes out of the blue and says, 'Let's record an album' or 'Let's go on tour.' In both cases my albums got stopped, and I haven't been able to release it." Stewart's albums are now for sale on the Internet at www.moezmd.com. "I've never gotten a label deal, and that's what I want now."\n"I want to become more business, rather than… the guy that knows how to play all these instruments."\nRich Hardesty, a long-time Bloomington fixture, thinks Stewart can make it solo.\n"If he could focus on a solo career, he'd take off like crazy," Hardesty says. Stewart has been a constant staple in Hardesty's band recently. "If I had my way, I would jam with Moe Z every weekend. He adds so much flavor to our shows." \n"Moe Z is very passionate about his music," Hardesty adds. "I could never see him do anything but music. I am always honored to have him on stage." \nMoezart Stewart definitely wears many hats. He has a white Yankees hat and a sock hat bearing his name and logo. Stewart plans to wear many more hats by writing, producing, managing and playing with more local and national talent. Maybe one day Stewart will wear all the hats in his own successful group, like one of his role models, Stevie Wonder. Then, he'll have plenty of money to buy as many head pieces as he wants.