Steve Swallow fans?

WillBuckingham · #1 07-15-2005, 11:27 AM

Hey I'm trying to get started on listening to some Steve Swallow. There are very limited resources on the web and I'm hoping that somone wouldn't mind breaking down some of his recordings for me, with recommendations of where to start.

Ed Fuqua · #2 07-15-2005, 11:36 AM

Any of the John Scofield Trio recordings, pretty much any of the Gary Burton group recordings- there's a nice one that has GB, Steve, Eberhard Weber, Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny and Bob Moses; the name escapes me at the moment.

WillBuckingham · #3 07-15-2005, 12:31 PM

Cool. Is Eberhardt Weber playing cello?

Ed Fuqua · #4 07-15-2005, 12:35 PM

No, there are two basses and two guitars...

Passinwind · #5 07-15-2005, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Any of the John Scofield Trio recordings, pretty much any of the Gary Burton group recordings- there's a nice one that has GB, Steve, Eberhard Weber, Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny and Bob Moses; the name escapes me at the moment.

Passengers, right? I was lucky enough to see a show on that tour.

Also check out the Carla Bley stuff, it's pretty interesting.

brianrost · #6 07-15-2005, 12:58 PM

The Burton album with Eberhard Weber is called "Passengers". Swallow left Burton's band sometime in the mid 80s so more recent Burton has someone else on bass. The really early Burton stuff on RCA has Steve on UPRIGHT which he no longer plays.

There are four Scofield trio recordings I know about. Bar Talk has been out of print for years, Shinola and Out Like A Light are from the same set of live shows, both good but SHORT (only 30 minutes or so) and harder to find. The latest one Enroute is the easiest to find and it's very good so I'd start there.

Steve has a number of solo albums out in various styles, hard to say where to start. He's recorded a few duets with his partner (wife? not sure they ever got married) Carla Bley that are lots of fun if you like Monkish piano.

Steve has posted a number of charts for his tunes online!

http://www.wattxtrawatt.com/leadsheetsswallow.htm

Richard Lindsey · #7 07-15-2005, 01:04 PM

One of my favorite Swallow recordings is one he did in 1980 or so called "Home." It's settings of poems by Robert Creeley. IIRC, it has Sheila Jordan, Bob Moses, Dave Liebman, Steve Kuhn, and Pete Levin. Great stuff. One of the more interesting things is that because the poems are so concise, they mostly are used just as brief sections of the overall pieces. In other words, it's not really a vocalist's record (despite the presence of a vocalist) with occasional solos. The vocals are really no more featured than the instrumentalists.

Ed Fuqua · #8 07-15-2005, 01:08 PM

If you want to check out Steve on real bass -
BASRA - Pete LaRoca, SS, Steve Kun and JoHen
Art Farmer Quartet - Art, SS, Jim Hall and Walter Perkins

wilser · #9 07-15-2005, 01:17 PM

Here's my favorite Swallow recordings:

Scofield/Metheny/Stewart/Swallow - I can see your house from here
Steve Swallow - Swallow
Steve Swallow - Real Book

There's also another one he did with the Gary Burton quintet, I can't remember the name, but it has great swallow playing on it.

The charts are only leadsheets, they will give you an insight on swallow the composer, which is amazing ...swallow the bassist is incredible too

Aaron Saunders · #10 07-15-2005, 04:07 PM

Am I a little nuts, or is this the same Steve Swallow that's posting over on TBDB?

Ostinato · #11 07-16-2005, 01:48 PM

He plays some beautiful solo stuff on Bob Moses' Visit With The Great Spirit, too.

Aaron Saunders · #12 07-17-2005, 06:26 PM

Oops, sorry, I was thinking Steve Swanson. Damn. Well, that guy's amazing too -- go to TBDB's Double Bass Sampler, he's got some really nice cuts on there.

abaguer · #13 07-18-2005, 12:44 AM

I second the Home CD. It's a great record

I also like Times Square, Real Life Hits, Picture this. These three might be my favorites because the Burton quartet was terrific in the seventies and Steve is playing his souped up Fender 4 string.

There's a great record from the sixties of the Gary Burton Quartet with Larry Coryell on guitar and Steve on upright bass. He sounds great and even does a solo piece I want You by Bob Dylan.

Duets and Go Together are also terrific duo setting for Steve and Carla Bley. I saw them play together in St. Ann's church in Brooklyn in the 90s and it was a great show.

Real Book and Deconstructed are great quintet records playing all Swallow material. I'm glad to see people talking about him.