Steve Swallow @ 80

Many happy returns to the great bassist Steve Swallow, who celebrates his 80th birthday on October 4. An important figure in the history of the music, Steve made his mark early in the Jimmy Giuffre 3 with Paul Bley (see the album 1961), and through the 1960s appeared on significant recordings with George Russell,  Art Farmer, Stan Getz, the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and many others.  For two decades, Steve was effectively composer-in-residence with Gary Burton’s band and many of his tunes have become modern jazz standards.  It was while with Burton that Swallow made the transition from double bass to bass guitar, pioneering a new soloistic language for the electric instrument.  Modern poetry has provided impetus and inspiration for some of Steve’s work, as on the albums Home and So There, both of which feature the words of Robert Creeley.  Since the late 1970s Steve has been a member of all Carla Bley’s ensembles, including the group with saxophonist Andy Sheppard heard on the ECM albums Trios,  Andando El Tiempo, and Life Goes On.  Steve’s most recent ECM appearance is on John Scofield’s album Swallow Tales, on which the bassist’s tunes – as Scofield notes – prove to be “perfect vehicles for improvisation.”