Steve Swallow


Steve Swallow is a jazz bassist and composer noted for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.

Biography

Born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Swallow studied piano and trumpet, as a child, before turning to the double bass at age 14. While attending a prep school, he began trying his hand in jazz improvisation. In 1960, he left Yale, where he was studying composition, and settled in New York City, playing at the time in Jimmy Giuffre's trio along with Paul Bley. After joining Art Farmer's quartet in 1963, Swallow began to write. It is in the 1960s that his long-term association with Gary Burton's various bands began.
In the early 1970s, Swallow switched exclusively to electric bass guitar, of which he prefers the five-string variety. Along with Monk Montgomery and Bob Cranshaw, Swallow was among the first jazz bassists to do so. He plays with a pick, and his style involves intricate solos in the upper register; he was one of the early adopters of the high C string on a bass guitar.
In 19741976, Swallow taught at the Berklee College of Music. He contributed several of his compositions to the Berklee students who assembled the first edition of The Real Book. He later recorded an album, Real Book, with the picture of a well-worn, coffee-stained book on the cover.
In 1978 Swallow became a member of Carla Bley's band. He has been Bley's romantic partner since the 1980s. He toured extensively with John Scofield in the early 1980s, and has returned to this collaboration several times over the years.
Swallow has consistently won the electric bass category in Down Beat yearly polls, both Critics' and Readers', since the mid-80s. His compositions have been covered by, among others, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Stan Getz and Gary Burton.

Partial discography

As leader or co-leader

With Rabih Abou-Khalil
With Carla Bley
With Paul Bley
With Gary Burton
With Dave Douglas
With Don Ellis
With Art Farmer
With Pierre Favre
With Stan Getz
With Jimmy Giuffre
With Chico Hamilton
  • '
With Tore Johansen
With Steve Kuhn
With Pete La Roca
With Joe Lovano
With Michael Mantler
With Gary McFarland
With Pat Metheny and John Scofield
With Paul Motian
With Jimmy Raney, Jim Hall and Zoot Sims
With George Russell
With John Scofield