Steve Swallow
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Bassist, composer, producer, and a refined intellectual, Steve Swallow can be considered in many ways as the exact (and necessary) antithesis to the most celebrated electric bass champion of all time: Jaco Pastorius.

Jaco embraced the electric bass due to a series of random events, which led him to play with R&B orchestras, then befriending Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and eventually joining Zawinul's court in Weather Report. Steve chose to switch to the electric bass after a long tenure as an acoustic double bassist, having collaborated with figures from the more intellectual white jazz scene such as Paul Bley, Carla Bley (with whom he is also a partner), and Jimmy Giuffre.

Jaco was the disruptive innovator of the electric bass that everyone knows, a proponent of contagious virtuosity, supported by an unrestrained inventiveness with a very powerful sound. Steve, in his own way, is also an innovator of the instrument, but plays on the opposite side: great attention to sound, "long" and languid phrases, frequent incursions into the mid-high frequencies, a collected and serene singability.

On the compositional level, the discourse repeats: the polymorphic genius of Pastorius expresses full luminosity, with themes like "Teen Town" or "Three Views Of A Secret". Over the years, Swallow has given us a handful of seemingly simple themes ("Falling Grace", "Hullo Bolinas"), poetic and intriguing, rich in delicate harmonic subtleties, an ideal vehicle for attentive soloists, and in fact repeatedly performed by Chick Corea, Gary Burton, John Scofield.

Diabolical and marvelous showman Jaco, always in the front row, and for this much loved by the most diverse categories of listeners. A man behind the scenes, reserved but wise organizer of exciting sound situations, revered by a small circle of enthusiasts, Steve.

Finally, to Jaco's total intemperance and difficult temperament, culminating in his tragic and premature end, Steve's calm and subtly self-ironic attitude serves as a counterbalance, allowing him to traverse the recent history of Jazz unscathed.

His 1980 debut album showcases Swallow as both composer and soloist just as well. He decided to set to music none other than the verses of poet Robert Creeley, of America's sixties avant-garde, a highly fertile and creative period that the bassist experienced firsthand. The atmosphere is a combination of old and new, classic and transgressive, easy and difficult, which well reflects the character of the leader. Joining him are the prodigious sax of Dave Liebman (here both tenor and soprano), Steve Kuhn on piano, Lyle Mays who adds a discreet touch of synth on some tracks, Bob Moses on drums, and Sheila Jordan who takes on the task of singing/declaring the poet's verses. The themes are fascinating and ethereal, as if perpetually suspended on a thread, reflecting the minimalistic nature of the verses that capture small moments of everyday life in a lapidary way.

Among suggestive harmonizations, and intense and piercing solos, everyone has a chance to express themselves at their best. Dave Liebman asserts his authority from the first bars of the dreamy "Some Echoes", and Swallow's almost guitar-like patterns, supported by very articulated series of chords, shine in all their elegance.

Music of great class, interesting, engaging. A great record, stuff for true connoisseurs, people who know their stuff. Just like Steve.