Steve Swallow
| Steve Swallow | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steve Swallow |
| Born |
October 4, 1940 Fair Lawn, New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, cool jazz, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz, free jazz, post-bop, hard bop |
| Occupation(s) | Electric bassist, composer, educator |
| Instruments | Electric bass, double bass |
| Years active | 1960-present |
| Labels | Palmetto, RCA, RCA, Atlantic, Watt, Blue Note, Winter & Winter, Verve, Impulse! |
| Associated acts | Jimmy Giuffre, Art Farmer, Carla Bley, John Scofield, Gary Burton, Michael Mantler, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Stan Getz, Roy Haynes, Paul Bley, Steve Kuhn, Joe Lovano, Pete La Roca, Jim Hall |
| Website | http://www.wattxtrawatt.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Electric bass | |
Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is a jazz bassist and composer noted for his numerous collaborations with musicians including Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.
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 (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 1974–1976, 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.
...
Wikipedia