Jazz Articles about Steve Swallow

About Steve Swallow

Interview

Steve Swallow: Music Is Elemental

by Dean Nardi
August 5, 2026

For esteemed composer and bassist Steve Swallow, writing music is a long, sometimes arduous process that typically begins with only a cup of coffee in the morning before putting in hours, days, weeks--five months in fact, to complete the music for Winter Songs (ECM Records, 2026). For him, that is lightning fast. His idea of composition is to punch in every day, then sit there and sweat until notes, chords and rhythms emerge that co-mingle to his satisfaction.

Album Review

Steve Swallow: Winter Songs

Read "Winter Songs" reviewed by Kevin Poindexter

by Kevin Poindexter
July 8, 2026

While it is true that much of the modern jazz landscape thrives on the burning fire of the avant-garde, albums like Steve Swallow's Winter Songs operate on an entirely different frequency. This is a classic ECM Records slow burner--an album that does not flash like lightning, but instead radiates a calm, late-night glow. It evokes the quiet stillness of sitting by a fireplace after the rest of the house has gone to sleep, where the music demands a deep couch, a ...

Album Review

Steve Swallow: Winter Songs

Read "Winter Songs" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
July 1, 2026

To create his first new music since the death of his partner, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow gathered a circle of close friends and longtime collaborators: saxophonist Chris Cheek, trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, drummer Adam Nussbaum, guitarist Steve Cardenas, and pianist Gil Goldstein. The result, Winter Songs-- Swallow's first outing as a leader in over a decade was recorded at Sear Sound studio in New York during September 2024. About the music, Swallow wrote: “I was there when this music ...

Album Review

Carla Bley: Joyful Noise – Live In Hamburg 1984

Read "Joyful Noise – Live In Hamburg 1984" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
May 3, 2026

For a brief human moment, let us imagine that pianist/composer/maestro Carla Bley was cast as a villainess on the low-camp-crazy 60's Batman TV show. Yes, that one. The one with Adam West running around in tights. Who would Bley be? Perhaps, with her humorous inquests into any musical form that might threaten Gotham, she would be dubbed The Dabbler. Yes, The Dabbler! Or maybe, The Dancer! The woman in the opulent headpiece who always took the lead. For ...

Album Review

Paul Bley Trio: Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited

Read "Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
September 22, 2025

Il catalogo Revisited Series dell'etichetta ezz-thetics si va facendo sempre più nutrito, attingendo a storiche registrazioni prese da cataloghi internazionali e focalizzandosi spesso su caposaldi a cavallo tra gli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta. Si potrà dire che il cultore navigato già conosce bene tali opere e magari le possiede in multipla versione, nei supporti più graditi. Le riedizioni proposte dall'etichetta del produttore elvetico Werner X. Uehlinger sono senz'altro motivate da meticolose masterizzazioni e da testi di presentazione inediti, oltre che ...

Liner Notes

Paul Bley: Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited

by Chris May
May 26, 2025

One way for a musician to conjure rapture is through full-frontal shamanic assault, the sonic equivalent of the Orgasmatron machine that Jane Fonda's character encounters in Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi romp Barbarella. Funk is an ideal vehicle. But the sensations produced are superficial and short-lived. A less travelled path instead uses subtlety, understatement and nuance, and the music approaches laterally, almost by stealth. The stratagem demands more of the musician, and indeed more of the listener, but the result can ...

Radio & Podcasts

String Players: Steve Swallow, Charles Mingus and More

by Jerome Wilson
July 12, 2023

This program showcases string players, mostly guitarists and bassists, as bandleaders, composers, and soloists. The featured players include Steve Swallow, Charles Mingus, Avishai Cohen, Joe Venuti, and Chris Lightcap. (Please excuse the brief pause after the first track.) Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Leroy Vinnegar “Big Shoes (For Your Feet)" from Walkin' The Basses (Contemporary) 1:05 Lionel Loueke ...