Swallow's Bright Five-String Conversation
Upper-register invention and considerable writing chops with an all-star group, unapologetic polyester tone and all.
By 1994, Steve Swallow had already spent decades defining what a jazz bassist could be — melodic, compositional, unafraid to leave the low end. Real Book (1994) isn't a turning point so much as a confident statement of where he'd arrived: a writer and bandleader at full command, surrounding himself with Mulgrew Miller on piano, Joe Lovano on tenor, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Tom Harrell on brass. This is Swallow doing exactly what he wanted to do, and he knew his sidemen would get it.
The album's real subject is conversation at the upper registers. Swallow's five-string bass sits high in the mix, bright and almost vocal, trading lines and trading spaces rather than anchoring from below. The polyester tone he'd adopted — that slightly synth-like quality some listeners found jarring — becomes an asset here, giving his lines a distinctive voice that cuts through without aggression. Miller, Lovano, and Harrell respond in kind, meeting him where he is. The writing is inventive without showing off; these are working songs with real architecture, not vehicles for soloists to blow over.
AllMusic reviewer Rick Anderson awarded it 4 stars, noting the consistent inventiveness despite Swallow's unconventional approach to the instrument. The album confirms what his earlier work suggested: he wasn't interested in what a bass player was supposed to sound like. This record is for listeners who'd already made peace with that choice, or who were ready to.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Steve Swallow
All 25 albums →
The musicians on this record
Oneness 1997
Jack DeJohnette
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Rush Hour 1995
Joe Lovano
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
