Remastered and Extended Edition • Livia Records • Out November 14th, 2025
Livia Records continues its remarkable restoration of the Louis Stewart catalogue with the reissue of Alone Together, a captivating live duo recording featuring Louis Stewart on guitar and Brian Dunning on flute. Originally recorded over three lunchtime concerts at Dublin’s Peacock Theatre in August 1979, the album captures two of Ireland’s most gifted musicians in perfect musical conversation — inventive, intimate, and alive with the spirit of spontaneous creation.
This new edition has been remixed and remastered from the original quarter-inch tapes, and includes two previously unreleased studio tracks, newly discovered during the digitisation process. The result is a beautifully restored album that celebrates the clarity, warmth and dynamic interplay between the guitar and flute — an inspired pairing that proved as lyrical as it was daring.
A 16-page booklet accompanies the release, featuring photographs, detailed sleeve notes by Ellen Cranitch, and insights into the making of the album and the artists behind it.
A Unique Partnership
The combination of Stewart and Dunning was a rare one in Irish jazz, yet it yielded a distinctive sound world. Dunning’s lyrical flute lines — by turns nimble and meditative — meet Stewart’s fluid harmonic invention in a dialogue that seems to breathe as one. Together they move easily between bebop, bossa nova, and modern jazz compositions, bringing new vitality to standards such as There Will Never Be Another You, Triste and Alone Together, alongside pieces by Charlie Parker, Joe Henderson, and Chick Corea, and an original free improvisation.
The Musicians
Brian Dunning (1951–2022) was an Irish jazz flautist whose career bridged genres with effortless imagination. Active on the Dublin jazz scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he performed regularly with Louis Stewart before relocating to the United States, where he became known for his work with NightNoise (alongside Micheál and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill) and the group Puck Fair with Tommy Hayes. His sound — instantly recognisable for its blend of jazz phrasing and traditional Irish ornamentation — made him a unique voice on the international stage.
Louis Stewart (1944–2016) remains Ireland’s most revered jazz musician, celebrated both at home and abroad for his virtuosity and artistry. Following his award-winning appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968, he performed and recorded with many of the greats — Benny Goodman, J.J. Johnson, George Shearing, Ronnie Scott, and Tubby Hayes among them. Painter and arts patron Gerald Davis founded Livia Records in 1977 specifically to record Stewart’s work in Ireland, resulting in a series of acclaimed releases that showcased his genius in a variety of settings.
Louis was later honoured with an Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College Dublin (1998) and membership of Aosdána (2009) in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the arts. His playing — elegant, inventive, and deeply expressive — continues to inspire generations of guitarists.
Continuing the Livia Legacy
Founded by Gerald Davis, Livia Records was Ireland’s first dedicated jazz label, created to document Stewart and his contemporaries. Under the direction of Dermot Rogers, the label’s reissue programme has restored landmark recordings such as Out On His Own, Some Other Blues, and Spondance, while also releasing new work from contemporary Irish artists.
With Alone Together, Livia Records presents another beautifully preserved moment in Ireland’s jazz history — an album that reminds us of the depth, craft and quiet brilliance of two musicians whose collaboration remains timeless.
Available November 14th on Livia Records — another essential chapter in the ongoing celebration of Louis Stewart’s musical legacy.
For more information, visit liviarecords.com