Steve Swallow

Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940, Fair Lawn, New Jersey) is a jazz double bassist and bass guitarist and composer noted for his numerous collaborations.

One of the leading bassists in jazz, Swallow is noted for collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley. He was also one of the first acoustic bassists in jazz to switch entirely to electric bass guitar, on which he has a distinctively nimble sound.

Biography
As a child, Swallow studied piano and trumpet 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 1964, 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 5-string variety. 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.

In 1974-76 Swallow taught at the Berklee College of Music. It is often speculated that he had an influence on the contents of the "Real Book," which includes a fair number of his early compositions. He later recorded an album of the same name, with the picture of a well-worn, coffee-stained Real Book on the cover.

In 1978 Swallow became an essential and constant 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 (who recorded his very first tune, "Eiderdown"), Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Stan Getz and Gary Burton.

As leader or co-leader

 * Hotel Hello with Gary Burton (ECM, 1974)
 * Home - music to poems by Robert Creeley (ECM, 1980)
 * Carla (Watt, 1987)
 * Duets with Carla Bley (Watt, 1988)
 * Swallow (Sub Pop, 1991)
 * Go Together with Carla Bley (Watt, 1992)
 * Real Book (ECM, 1993)
 * Deconstructed (ECM, 1996)
 * Are We There Yet? with Carla Bley (Watt, 1998)
 * Always Pack Your Uniform On Top (ECM, 2000)
 * Damaged in Transit (Xtra Watt, 2003)
 * L'Histoire du Clochard with Ohad Talmor (Palmetto, 2007)
 * Carla's Christmas Carols with Carla Bley (Watt, 2009)

As sideman
With Carla Bley With Paul Bley With Gary Burton With Don Ellis With Art Farmer With Jimmy Giuffre 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
 * Musique Mecanique (Watt, 1979)
 * Social Studies (Watt, 1980)
 * Live! (Watt, 1981)
 * I Hate to Sing (Watt, 1983)
 * Heavy Heart (Watt, 1983)
 * Night-Glo (Watt, 1985)
 * Sextet (Watt, 1986)
 * Fleur Carnivore (Watt, 1988)
 * The Very Big Carla Bley Band (Watt, 1990)
 * Big Band Theory (Watt, 1993)
 * Songs with Legs (Watt, 1994)
 * The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church (Watt, 1996)
 * Fancy Chamber Music (Watt, 1997)
 * 4 x 4 (Watt, 1999)
 * Looking for America (Watt, 2002)
 * The Lost Chords (Watt, 2003)
 * Appearing Nightly (Watt, 2006)
 * The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu (Watt, 2007)
 * Hot (Soul Note, 1985)
 * The Groovy Sound of Music (RCA, 1963)
 * The Time Machine (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 (ECM, 1978)
 * Easy as Pie (ECM, 1980)
 * Picture This (ECM, 1982)
 * Whiz Kids (ECM, 1986)
 * Real Life Hits (ECM, 1984)
 * Quartet Live
 * ''Out of Nowhere (Candid, 1961 [1988])
 * 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)
 * Emphasis, Stuttgart 1961 (hatArt, 1961)
 * 1961 (ECM, 1992 - re-issue of the 1961 Verve-albums Fusion & Thesis) - with Paul Bley
 * Three Waves
 * Trance (ECM, 1974)
 * Wisteria (ECM, 2012)
 * Basra (Blue Note, 1965)
 * Universal Language (Blue Note, 1992)
 * The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (JCOA, 1968)
 * The Hapless Child (WATT, 1976)
 * Movies (WATT, 1977)
 * More Movies (WATT, 1980)
 * Something There (WATT, 1982)
 * Point of Departure (Impulse!, 1963)
 * I Can See Your House from Here (Blue Note Records, 1994)
 * Reincarnation of a Love Bird (JMT, 1995)
 * Flight of the Blue Jay (Winter & Winter, 1995)
 * 2000 + One (Winter & Winter, 1997)
 * Play Monk and Powell (Winter & Winter, 1998)

With George Russell With John Scofield Trio
 * The Stratus Seekers (Riverside)
 * EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE (Verve, 2004)