Poetry and Bass: Swallow's Experiment in Song
Swallow paired Sheila Jordan's voice with Robert Creeley's words, building something deliberately unclassifiable.
In September 1979, Steve Swallow brought together an unlikely ensemble in the studio: a singer without a standard jazz repertoire, a poet's words instead of lyrics, and a rhythm section built for exploration rather than swing. Sheila Jordan anchored the session, interpreting Creeley's spare, contemporary poetry over music that had to find its own logic. Steve Kuhn on piano and Bob Moses on drums provided the harmonic and rhythmic framework, while David Liebman's soprano saxophone and Lyle Mays' synthesizer textures filled the space between voice and bass.
What Swallow was after was something between song and instrumental music—not quite art song, not bebop, not fusion. The concept required discipline: the arrangements had to serve the poetry without overwhelming it, and the musicians had to respond to the human voice as the primary instrument rather than accompany it traditionally. Liebman's soprano especially shapes itself around Jordan's phrasing, sometimes shadowing her, sometimes orbiting at a distance. Mays' keyboards add color and abstraction where a more conventional horn section might have grounded things.
The record arrived in 1980 to polite confusion. AllMusic reviewer Ron Wynn acknowledged it as an "Interesting concept" but gave it 2½ stars, suggesting the experiment didn't entirely cohere. That assessment sticks partly because Home doesn't resolve the tension between its components—it wants to be several things at once and never quite settles. For listeners patient with that ambiguity, though, the record's restlessness is what makes it worthwhile.
Who's playing
Steve Swallowelectric bass guitar
Steve Kuhnpiano
David Liebmansoprano saxophone
Lyle Mayssynthesizer
Bob Mosesdrums
