Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...

, and

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.

Biography

Born in Fair Lawn,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States, Swallow studied piano and trumpet, as a child, before turning to the

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

at the age of 14. While attending a prep school, he began trying his hand in jazz improvisation. In 1960, he left

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he was studying

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, playing at the time in

's trio along with

Paul Bley Paul Bley, Order of Canada, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live per ...

. After joining

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

's quartet in 1963, Swallow began to write. It is in the 1960s that his long-term association with

's various bands began. In the early 1970s, Swallow switched exclusively to

electric bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, of which he prefers the five-string variety. He was first introduced to the electric bass while doing a music trade show with

and trying a Gibson EB-2. Along with Monk Montgomery and Bob Cranshaw, Swallow was among the first jazz bassists to do so (with much encouragement from Roy Haynes, one of Swallow's favorite drummers). He plays with a pick (made of copper by Hotlicks), 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. From 1974 to 1976, Swallow taught at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. 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

's band. He was Bley's romantic partner from the 1980s until her death in 2023. He toured extensively with

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

in the early 1980s, and has returned to this collaboration several times over the years. Swallow has consistently won the electric bass category in ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' yearly polls, both Critics' and Readers', since the mid-1980s. His compositions have been covered by, among others, Jim Hall (who recorded his very first tune, "Eiderdown"),

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

and

. Swallow's instruments are built by Harvey Citron.

Partial discography

As leader/co-leader

*'' Hotel Hello'' with Gary Burton (ECM, 1974) *''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

''music to poems by Robert Creeley (ECM, 1980) *'' Night-Glo'' with Carla Bley (Watt, 1985) *'' Carla'' (Xtra Watt, 1987) *'' Duets'' with Carla Bley (Watt, 1988) *'' The Life of a Trio: Saturday'' with

and

(Owl, 1989) *'' The Life of a Trio: Sunday'' with Paul Bley and Jimmy Giuffre (Owl, 1989) *''

Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

'' (Xtra Watt, 1991) *'' Go Together'' with Carla Bley (Watt, 1992) *'' Real Book'' (Xtra Watt, 1993) *'' Songs with Legs'' (Watt, 1994) with Carla Bley and Andy Sheppard *'' Parlance'' (Instant Present, 1995) with John Taylor *'' Deconstructed'' (Xtra Watt, 1996) *'' Are We There Yet?'' with Carla Bley (Watt, 1998) *'' Always Pack Your Uniform on Top'' (Xtra Watt/ECM, 2000) *''Noisy Old Men'' (Jam, 2002) with

Mick Goodrick Mick Goodrick (June 9, 1945 – November 16, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his career as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he worked with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny. Biography An Elvis fan, Goodrick began studying guitar ...

, John Abercrombie, Gary Chaffee *'' Damaged in Transit'' with Chris Potter and

Adam Nussbaum Adam Nussbaum (born November 29, 1955) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Nussbaum was born in New York City on November 29, 1955. He grew up in Norwalk (Connecticut), Norwalk, Connecticut, and first played the drums at the age of four. Aft ...

(Xtra Watt, 2003) *''So There'' with Robert Creeley (Xtra Watt, 2006) *''L'Histoire du Clochard'' with Ohad Talmor (Palmetto, 2007) *'' Carla's Christmas Carols'' with Carla Bley and the Partyka Brass Quintet (Watt, 2009) *''Playing in Traffic'' with Ohad Talmor and Adam Nussbaum (Auand, 2009) * ''Into the Woodwork'' (Xtra Watt, 2013) – recorded in 2011 * '' The New Standard'' with

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City and raised a Conservative Judaism, Conservative Jew, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory, New England Conserva ...

and Bobby Previte (RareNoise, 2014) * '' Loneliness Road'' with Jamie Saft, Bobby Previte and

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

(RareNoise, 2017)

As sideman

With Rabih Abou-Khalil * '' Blue Camel'' (Enja, 1992) * '' The Sultan's Picnic'' (Enja, 1994) With

* 1978: '' Musique Mecanique'' (Watt, 1979) * 1979: ''

Social Studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

'' (Watt, 1980) * 1980: '' Live!'' (Watt, 1981) – live * 1981–83: '' I Hate to Sing'' (Watt, 1984) – live * 1983: '' Heavy Heart'' (Watt, 1984) * 1986–87: ''

Sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

'' (Watt, 1987) * 1988: '' Fleur Carnivore'' (Watt, 1989) – live * 1990: '' The Very Big Carla Bley Band'' (Watt, 1991) * 1993: '' Big Band Theory'' (Watt, 1993) * 1996: '' The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church'' (Watt, 1996) – live * 1997: '' Fancy Chamber Music'' (Watt, 1998) * 1999: '' 4 x 4'' (Watt, 2000) * 2002: '' Looking for America'' (Watt, 2003) * 2003: '' The Lost Chords'' (Watt, 2004) – live * 2006: '' Appearing Nightly'' (Watt, 2008) – live * 2007: '' The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu'' (Watt, 2007) * 2013: '' Trios'' (ECM, 2013) * 2015: '' Andando el Tiempo'' (ECM, 2016) * 2019: '' Life Goes On'' (ECM, 2020) With

* '' Footloose!'' (Savoy, 1963) * '' Closer'' (ESP-Disk, 1966) * '' Hot'' (Soul Note, 1985) With

* '' The Groovy Sound of Music'' (RCA, 1963) * ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...

'' (RCA, 1966) * '' Tennessee Firebird'' (RCA, 1966) * '' Duster'' (RCA, 1967) * '' Lofty Fake Anagram'' (RCA, 1967) * '' A Genuine Tong Funeral'' (RCA, 1967) * '' Gary Burton Quartet in Concert'' (RCA, 1968) * '' Country Roads & Other Places'' (RCA, 1969) * '' Throb'' (Atlantic, 1969) * '' Good Vibes'' (Atlantic, 1969) * '' Paris Encounter'' (Atlantic, 1969) with Stéphane Grappelli * '' Dreams So Real'' (ECM, 1975) * '' Passengers'' (ECM, 1977) * ''

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

'' (ECM, 1978) * '' Easy as Pie'' (ECM, 1980) * '' Picture This'' (ECM, 1982) * '' Whiz Kids'' (ECM, 1986) * '' Real Life Hits'' (ECM, 1984) * '' Quartet Live'' (Concord Jazz, 2009) With

* '' Interaction'' (Atlantic, 1963)with Jim Hall * '' Live at the Half-Note'' (Atlantic, 1963)with Jim Hall * '' To Sweden with Love'' (Atlantic, 1964)with Jim Hall * '' The Many Faces of Art Farmer'' (Scepter, 1964) * '' Sing Me Softly of the Blues'' (Atlantic, 1965) With

* ''1961'' (ECM, 1992 – re-issue of the 1961 Verve-albums '' Fusion'' & ''

Thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

'')with

* '' Emphasis, Stuttgart 1961'' (hatArt, 1992) * '' Flight, Bremen 1961'' (hatArt, 1993) * ''

Free Fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...

'' (Columbia, 1962) With

Steve Kuhn Steve Kuhn (born March 24, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator. He is the composer of the jazz standard " The Saga of Harrison Crabfeathers". Biography Kuhn was born in New York City, New York, to S ...

* ''Three Waves'' (Contact, 1966) * ''

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

'' (ECM, 1974) * ''

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae). The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...

'' (ECM, 2012) * ''At This Time'' (Sunnyside, 2016) With Michael Mantler * '' The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' (JCOA, 1968) * ''The Hapless Child'' (WATT, 1976) * ''Movies'' (WATT, 1977) * ''More Movies'' (WATT, 1980) * ''Something There'' (WATT, 1982) With

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

* '' Reincarnation of a Love Bird'' (JMT, 1995) * '' Flight of the Blue Jay'' (Winter & Winter, 1995) * '' Trio 2000 + One'' (Winter & Winter, 1997) * '' Play Monk and Powell'' (Winter & Winter, 1998) With George Russell * '' Ezz-thetics'' ( Riverside, 1961) * '' The Stratus Seekers'' (Riverside, 1962) * '' The Outer View'' (Riverside, 1962) With

* '' Bar Talk'' ( Arista Novus, 1980) * '' Shinola'' (Enja, 1982) * '' Out Like a Light'' (Enja, 1983) * '' Quiet'' (Verve, 1996) * '' EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE'' (Verve, 2004) * '' Country for Old Men'' ( Impulse!, 2016) * '' Swallow Tales'' (ECM, 2020) With others * Dave Douglas, '' Riverside'' (Greenleaf, 2014) – recorded in 2014 *

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his ...

, '' Out of Nowhere'' (Candid, 1988) – recorded in 1961 * Pierre Favre, ''Window Steps'' (ECM, 1996) – recorded in 1995 *

, '' The Stan Getz Quartet in Paris'' (Verve, 1967) – live recorded in 1966 *

Chico Hamilton Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton (September 20, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He came to prominence as sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne. Hamilton became a bandleader, f ...

, '' El Exigente: The Demanding One'' (Flying Dutchman, 1970) * Tore Johansen, ''I.S.'' (Inner Ear, 2010) *

Sheila Jordan Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson; November 18, 1928) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pionee ...

, '' Portrait Of Sheila'' (Blue Note, 1963) * Pete La Roca, ''

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

'' (Blue Note, 1965) * Joe Lovano, ''

Universal Language Universal language may refer to a hypothetical or historical language spoken and understood by all or most of the world's people. In some contexts, it refers to a means of communication said to be understood by all humans. It may be the idea o ...

'' (Blue Note, 1992) * Gary McFarland, '' Point of Departure'' (Impulse!, 1963) *

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

and

, ''

I Can See Your House from Here ''I Can See Your House from Here'' is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Camel (band), Camel. Released in 1979, a new line up was introduced with founding members Andrew Latimer (guitar) and Andy Ward (musician), Andy ...

'' (Blue Note Records, 1994) *

Jimmy Raney James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) a ...

, Jim Hall and

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, '' Two Jims and Zoot'' (Mainstream, 1964) * Andy Sheppard, '' Dancing Man & Woman'' (Provocateur, 2000) * Hans Ulrik, Anders Mogensen, Niclas Knudsen, ''The Meeting'' (2020)

References

External links

Watt/XtraWatt the recording company run by Swallow and Bley

Steve Swallow and Carla Bley video interview about ''Dreams So Real'' and working with ECM Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swallow, Steve 1940 births 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American jazz bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American male jazz musicians Berklee College of Music faculty ECM Records artists Living people People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey RareNoiseRecords artists Yale University alumni Musicians from Bergen County, New Jersey