Steve Swallow


Steve Swallow is an American jazz bassist and composer, known 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.
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Biography

Born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, United States, Swallow studied piano and trumpet, as a child, before turning to the double bass at the age of 14. While attending a prep school, he began trying his hand in jazz improvisation. In 1960, he left Yale University, 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. He was first introduced to the electric bass while doing a music trade show with Gary Burton and trying a Gibson EB-2. 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.
From 1974 to 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.
In 1978, Swallow became a member of Carla Bley's band. He was Bley's romantic partner from the 1980s until her death in 2023. 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 DownBeat yearly polls, both Critics' and Readers', since the mid-1980s. His compositions have been covered by, among others, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Stan Getz and Gary Burton. Swallow's instruments are built by Harvey Citron.

Partial discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

With Rabih Abou-KhalilBlue Camel The Sultan's Picnic
With Carla Bley
With Paul BleyFootloose! Closer Hot
With Gary BurtonThe Groovy Sound of Music The Time Machine Tennessee Firebird Duster Lofty Fake Anagram A Genuine Tong Funeral Gary Burton Quartet in Concert Country Roads & Other Places Throb Good Vibes Paris Encounter with Stéphane GrappelliDreams So Real Passengers Times Square Easy as Pie Picture This Whiz Kids Real Life Hits Quartet Live
With Art FarmerInteraction – with Jim HallLive at the Half-Note – with Jim HallTo Sweden with Love – with Jim HallThe Many Faces of Art Farmer Sing Me Softly of the Blues
With Jimmy Giuffre1961 – with Paul BleyEmphasis, Stuttgart 1961 Flight, Bremen 1961 Free Fall
With Steve Kuhn Three Waves Trance Wisteria At This Time
With Michael MantlerThe Jazz Composer's Orchestra The Hapless Child Movies More Movies Something There
With Paul MotianReincarnation of a Love Bird Flight of the Blue Jay Trio 2000 + One Play Monk and Powell
With George RussellEzz-thetics The Stratus Seekers The Outer View
With John ScofieldBar Talk Shinola Out Like a Light I Can See Your House From Here Quiet EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE This Meets That Country for Old Men Swallow Tales
With others