It seems odd to release an album called ‘Winter Songs’ in the middle of summer. Even more strangely, this is a most unwintry set of originals from the New Jersey electric bassist Steve Swallow. A veteran sideman with Jimmy Giuffre, John Scofield and his wife Carla Bley, Swallow is no stranger to challenging music. But no one will find these short, sweet melodies hard to swallow: they are warmly swinging, atmospheric gems. The tracks are numbered and the digits sometimes reflect the mood. […] On the Killer Joe-like ‘Six’ the horns blow as hot as the New York City steam system on the cover. […] ‘Eight’ is like a Harold Arlen belter turned inside out and topped up with anxiety. Cheek’s saxophone sobs about the gal that got away. ‘Nine’ gives us something winter-worthy but it’s cool rather than cold. Mike Rodriguez’s trumpet curls like cigarette smoke through the silky chords of Steve Cardenas’s guitar and with a pu, it’s all gone.
Chris Pearson, The Times (Five stars)
These seemingly straight ahead cuts, just under the surface, offer a balance of melancholia juxtaposed with an irrepressible love of life and gratitude. ‘One’ is introduced as a sweet singing blues with Cardenas meeting Goldstein while gently swinging the thematic foreground. Rodriguez's balladic, poignant trumpet solo adds intimacy. On ‘Three,’ Goldstein introduces a painterly theme, then slides in lyric extensions for Cardenas's exquisite six string embellishment. On ‘Four’ Cheeks and Cardenas reharmonise a single note, though a deceptive motif cuts out just enough room for bluesy melancholy when Rodriguez joins and Goldstein delivers a solo with gilded elegance. ‘Six’ swings hard bop-like as the horn players deliver the theme and solos without drawing attention, as Cardenas sounds a bit like Freddie Green. The rhythm section winds in seamless fours. ‘Seven’ offers intricate, deep balladic interplay between guitarist and pianist; they engage but never get in one another's way. ‘Nine’ is a near-whispering ballad. Cardenas and Goldstein deliver lyrical dialogue before Rodriguez solos with a deep blue feel. On ‘Winter Songs’ Swallow translates his own grief and gratitude into a subtle yet profound emotional experience by employing the hallmarks of jazz.
Thom Jurek, All Music
Though known for his nimble bass work, Swallow keeps to the background on these songs, letting the horns carry the melodies and the piano provide most of the color. It’s the veteran’s compositions that matters here, his way with a melody and understanding of harmonic structure, rather than his technique. The gentle swing of ‘Four,’ the groovy bop of ‘Six,’ the dreamy harmony of ‘Eight,’ and the smoky romanticism of ‘Two’ sound more like they belong on a Blue Note album circa 1957 than on an ECM album in 2026. But that doesn’t mean Swallow has gone retro on ‘Winter Songs’ – just that there’s comfort in a classic sound, and even the most satisfying environment benefits from a new coat of paint from an experienced hand.
Michael Toland, The Big Takeover
Despite a considerable discography this is remarkably Swallow’s first recording as leader for more than decade, with his previous album being ‘Into The Woodworks’ back in 2013 and thus making this new release even more welcome. For this recording the bassist has surrounded himself with friends with who he has made music in the past and who fully understand his methods. Having penned nine new compositions, simply titled ‘One’ through to ‘Nine’, Swallow and the sextet settle down to create some excellent music together. Swallow’s compositions are lyrical, memorable and compact. Full of detail without superfluous gestures to detract from the inherent beauty of both the music and the playing. […] Should the frontline try to grab the limelight it must be pointed out that the interplay between the rhythm section doesn’t just lift the music but also repays close attention. Nussbaum is the epitome of good taste, and this frees up Swallow, pianist Gil Goldstein and Steve Cardenas on guitar to create a wonderfully solid interesting harmonic bedrock. The interplay is astonishing and the way Swallow and Cardenas swap lines and rhythmic ideas is staggering given the range and register of the bassist’s five string instrument that often makes forays into the guitar’s register.
Nick Lea, Jazz Views
A very listenable collection of melodic and relaxing instrumental jazz. For all seasons, not just winter.
Ian Sinclair, Morning Star
Steve Swallows warmer und resonanter E-Bass grundiert die Performances subtil und unaufdringlich – nur in einem der neun Stücke räumt er sich ein kleines Soloshowcase ein, mit dem so unverwechselbar schlanken und stimmhaften Ton, den er an seinem halbakustischen Instrument mit der zusätzlichen hohen C-Saite und dem Plektron erzeugt. Ein Detail in einem würdigen Alterswerk, entstanden aus innerer Notwendigkeit – ‘Winter Songs’ ist Trauerarbeit unter Freunden – und auch wenn Steve Swallow mit 85 Jahren nicht mehr auf die Bühne zurückkehren mag, so hat er mit diesem Album zumindest die Tür ins Studio wieder sehr überzeugend aufgestoßen.
Niklas Wandt, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
Man hört hier der Musik alter Freunde zu, die alles, aber auch alles, in ihr Spiel legen, um der Musik – das war wohl ihre gemeinsame Vision – Luft zu geben, Atem, Aura, also etwas, bei dem die üblichen Worte (Analysen, Vorurteile, Lobeshymnen, Schnellschüsse) in eine schöne Leere laufen. Mission erfüllt. So lässt sich auch mit lyrischer Eleganz, mit makellosem Sound, Zauber auf Zauber entfachen, ohne einen einzigen überflüssigen Ton. Wer die drei letzten Alben von Carla, Steve und Andy ganz besonders mag, wird auch hier fündig werden, und, im seltsamen Glanz eines Rückblickes auf gelebtes Leben, von ferne auch mal die Lichter des ‘Hotel Hello’ aufflackern sehen!
Michael Engelbrecht, Flowworker
Es gibt Kunst, und also auch Musik, die schreit mit jeder Faser nach Aufmerksamkeit und spreizt sich in ihrer Originalität, im besten Fall in ihrer Virtuosität, im schlechtesten in ihrer Eitelkeit. Kunst, die sich selbst feiert. Die Musik, die Steve Swallow, der Bassist, genauer: Bassgitarrist unter dem Titel ‚Winter Songs‘ mit einem hochintegrierten, eingestimmten Sextett vorlegt, ist das denkbare Gegenteil davon. Sie klingt nicht gemacht, sondern gewachsen. Die neun Stücke tragen nicht einmal Titel, die zu illustrativen Assoziationen verleiten könnten. […] Das Album ist eine Art Naturereignis. Swallow ist ein melodiöses Genie, und für seine genial sinnfälligen Erfindungen hat er aus dem Kreis seiner jahrzehntelang Vertrauten die idealen Partner und Improvisatoren gewählt, eigenwillig alle, aber auf gleicher Wellenlänge: den eindringlichen und geschmeidigen Tenorsaxofonisten Chris Cheek als die eine Bläserstimme, innig verflochten oder intelligent ins Unisono zurückgenommen mit der glänzenden und herzwarmen Trompete von Mike Rodriguez. Zurückhaltend und präzise, mit vollendetem Sinn für die mise en place Gil Goldstein am Piano, zusammen mit dem Gitarristen Steve Cardenas, dem Drummer Adam Nussbaum und Swallow selbst, verantwortlich für die transparente, harmonisch-melodisch nie pleonastische Verwebung und Verdichtung dieser raumgreifenden, befreienden Musik mit humanem Herzschlag und freiem Atem. Eine Musik, in der man wohnen mag, und die doch, selbst in anrührend balladesken Passagen, nicht ohne vibrierende Spannung bleibt. Dem Hörer offenbart sie jedenfalls bei jeder Begegnung ein changierendes neues Farbenspiel. Alles fliesst. Swallows ‚Winter Songs‘ sind raffiniert und selbst-verständlich zugleich. In der Grundhaltung (wenn auch nicht im stilistischen Detail) ein Jazz, der an die Souveränität, Gelassenheit, Logik und Inspiration der Musik eines Lester Young erinnert.
Peter Rüedi, Weltwoche
Recorded at Sear Sound in New York, the album features a distinguished sextet whose members bring decades of shared experience to a project shaped by loss, memory and renewal. Swallow rejects virtuosic showmanship, delivering instead a warm, chamber-jazz suite that recalls the lyricism and conversational interplay of late-1950s hard bop. Writing the music sustained Swallow through the empty months following Bley’s death in late 2023. One of the most influential bass guitarists in modern jazz, Steve Swallow has spent more than six decades redefining the role of the instrument, first on double bass and later on electric bass guitar. His long artistic partnership with Bley produced some of the most distinctive music in contemporary jazz, making ‘Winter Songs’ both a personal statement and a memorial. The bassist structures the album as a seamless sequence of tracks titled simply ‘One’ to ‘Nine’. His distinctive pick-style bass provides a supple foundation rather than a vehicle for solo display. […] Listeners will find comfort in this deeply reflective, beautifully recorded document. ‘Winter Songs’ stands as a masterclass in understated ensemble playing and a moving tribute to a shared musical life, demonstrating how grief can be transformed into music of quiet grace and enduring warmth.
Stephen Graham, Marlbank
Le nove composizioni di questo album hanno la prerogativa di conquistare lentamente l’attenzione, con un’espressività che sembra aver accettato il trascorrere del tempo senza nostalgia e senza risentimento, trasformandolo in un’efficace forma musicale retta dall’equilibrio e dalla consapevolezza. Swallow sembra affidarsi a una sapienza antica, quella che riconosce nella levità una conquista e nell’ascolto reciproco una forma di conoscenza. ‘Winter Songs’ non propone rivelazioni, ma qualcosa di più raro come una lenta riconciliazione con la complessità del reale. E in questo suo procedere discreto, lontano da ogni enfasi, trova una profondità che molti lavori più ambiziosi finiscono soltanto per inseguire inutilmente.
Riccardo Talamazzi, Offtopic Magazine
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 nice pair of headphones, and total attention to both the notes being played and the spaces between them. Recorded at Sear Sound following the profound loss of his wife and longtime musical collaborator, Carla Bley, ‘Winter Songs’ is both an artistic statement and a meditation on grief and survival. As is the case with many ECM recordings, the album is classy, incredibly spacious, and unfolds at its own unhurried pace. […] To understand the sonic depth and beauty at play, one only needs to let the opening track, ‘One,’ completely take over. The recording is so immaculate that every individual wire of Adam Nussbaum 's brushes can be heard moving across the drum head. It is like listening to car tires softly crunching the fresh, undriven snow on a quiet road just before dawn. At the very end of the track, the raspiness of Chris Cheek 's saxophone and the trumpet of Mike Rodriguez hit the exact same frequency as those brushes, forming one sound as the song ends. […] Just as spring follows the harshest of winters, this album is the sound of a rebirth beginning to take place underneath all of the snow. ‘Winter’ Songs is an extraordinarily human record, and a deeply profound testament to the healing power of music.
Kevin Poindexter, All About Jazz
At 85, Steve Swallow sounds as inspired as ever, maintaining the stylistic poise on electric bass, post-bop refinement, and functional compositional forms that have defined both his solo career and his work with his late partner in music and life, Carla Bley, as well as Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and George Russell. More meditative than exploratory, ‘Winter Songs’ is his first album in a decade, featuring nine untitled original compositions. For the occasion, he assembled a group of simpatico musicians—a frontline of savvy melodicists comprising tenor saxophonist Chris Cheek and trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, alongside a solid rhythm section with pianist Gil Goldstein, guitarist Steve Cardenas, and drummer Adam Nussbaum. What the sextet plays is consistently lucid and alive, beginning with ‘One’, a smooth, elegant post-bop piece elevated by Goldstein’s magnetic pianism. […] ‘Winter Songs’ is infused with lyrical sophistication and harmonic finesse. Swallow’s instinctive, unforced playing continues to keep the finest traditions of jazz alive while subtly renewing them.
Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail
Die schlicht ‘One’ bis ‘Nine’ betitelten, schlanke drei bis fünf Minuten langen Eigenkompositionen des Sextetts mit Chris Cheek (ts) und Mike Rodriguez (tp) überzeugen durch ihren warmen Ensemblesound und die lässige Eloquenz der einzelnen Statements.
Klaus Nüchtern, Falter
Et si on revenait à l’essentiel, redécouvrir la puissance de notes fluides destinées à faire entendre une musique qui ne nous lasserait jamais ? C’est ce qui ressort en priorité de l’écoute de ‘Winter Songs’, album déposé en douceur dans un monde de brutes et qui permet à Steve Swallow de reprendre les rênes de leader. […] Animée par cette basse conteuse de fables qui s’aventure dans de nouvelles contrées […] la musique fluctue avec sagesse. Un album incontournable.
Mario Borroni, Citizen Jazz
Swallow war schon immer ein Meister der leisen, verhaltenen Pastelltöne. Auf ‘Wintersong’ agieren er und seine fünf Gespielen, allen voran Gitarren-Genius Steve Cardenas, Saxofon-Routinier Chris Cheek und Schlagzeug-Urgestein Adam Nussbaum, mit einer unvergleichlichen Gelassenheit. Hektik war noch nie Swallows Sache. Und falls Sorgfalt eine Kategorie der Improvisation ist, wird sie hier zur Vollendung geführt. Jeder Ton ist präzise am richtigen Platz. Man fühlt sich von diesem emotionalen Album buchstäblich an die Hand genommen.
Wolf Kampmann, Eclipsed
Wenn es um zeitgenössischen Jazz geht, der sich weit aus dem Fenster lehnt, so ist Steve Swallow eine seiner Galionsfiguren. Und ein Garant dafür, dass auch Verwegenes gelingt. Gefühlt seit Menschengedenken speisen sein unvergleichliches Bassspiel und seine kühnen Kompositionen die kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung dieser Musik – viele ihrer heute prägenden Figuren wären ohne den inzwischen 85-jährigen Nestor nie in diesen Rang gekommen, und wer als Newcomer mit Swallow im Rücken Musik machen darf, kann kaum fehlgehen. Nun sind die Solisten auf seinem neuen Album ‘Winter Songs’ zwar keine aufstrebenden Jungspunde mehr, aber Trompeter Mike Rodriguez, Saxophonist Chris Cheek und Gitarrist Steve Cardenas gehen je eine Spur frecher, hungriger und auch mal schmutziger ans Werk als Swallow und seine alten Kämpen Gil Goldstein am Klavier und Adam Nussbaum am Schlagzeug. […] Swallows Präsenz auf dem E-Bass ist nach wie vor einzigartig: Er spielt warm und wohldosiert, mit immer wieder überraschender tonaler Reichweite und diesem unnachahmlich murmelnden Sound. Der eigentliche Mehrwert liegt jedoch darin, Schweres so leicht klingen zu lassen. […] Die namenlosen, lediglich von eins bis neun durchnummerierten ‘Winter Songs’ dürften dermaleinst ein weiteres Paradebeispiel für Substanz und Langlebigkeit in Swallows Schaffen abgeben. Die Musik auf dem Album hat nichts Ausgeklügeltes, scheint vielmehr dem natürlichen Kreislauf von Werden und Vergehen zu entspringen. Sie kann auf viel gegenseitiges Zutrauen aller Mitspieler bauen – und auf die stete Präsenz von Steve Swallow, der genau weiß, wann und wo und wie er ordnende Hand anlegen muss.
Andreas Schäfler, Junge Welt
On ‘Winter Songs’, bassist Steve Swallow stirs feelings of late-night New York in a small club where the musicians are playing for their own souls and sanity as much as for an audience. It’s thoughtful music of truth, beauty and community brought forth by a stellar cohort of close friends. Chris Cheek beautifully lays it down the saxophone. Mike Rodriguez lopes in his clear, soulful tone on trumpet. Adam Nussbaum comes in as fluid and tasteful as ever on drums. Gil Goldstein adds just the right panache on piano. Steve Cardenas lays back to dramatic effect on guitar. And Swallow, for his part, holds it down perfectly on bass. This is a thoughtful ensemble cast, not a cutting contest of individual stars, and it’s a record this writer will be playing over and over again when the moon and the mood are just right. […] These are ‘Winter Songs’ for any season.
Frank Alkyer, Downbeat (Editor’s Pick)
In a little under 45 minutes, the album generates a sense of calm, with undemanding compositions by Swallow being worked through with care and affection by what is essentially a chamber-jazz ensemble. The music is intricate and thoughtful, very much a sum of its parts, with no-one rushing to steal a solo or engage in a competitive exchange of ideas. The album whispers into being with Gil Goldstein and Steve Cardenas picking out a melody on piano and guitar, before Mike Rodriguez lays down some atmospheric, slightly melancholy lines on trumpet to open up the track. Swallow works away with subtlety in the background, content to let his fellow musicians take the lead. This is one of those albums that grows on the listener over repeated listens. Beautifully crafted, its strength lies in the understated connection between the players, and the emotional power that can be generated when it sounds like you are not really trying at all.
John Adcock, Jazz Journal
‘Winter Songs’ is a cohesive musical statement featuring Steve Swallow’s intelligent post-bop compositions performed by these great musicians to produce a stunningly beautiful album. I have listened to this over and over again and I never tire of it.
Don Berryman, Jazz Police
