Bass Player: Steve Swallow

Steve Swallow is something of an enigma in Jazz; and electric bass player who uses a pick. Having started his career on double bass (he played and recorded with the Jimmy Guiffre Trio – worth looking up), he swapped to electric after hearing guitarist Joe Beck play the instrument in a hotel room in the late 1960s. Swallow is not a flash player and a lot of his stuff is quite simple and yet he remains one of the most in demand bass players in the music and is a regular featured sideman for the guitarist’s guitarist, John Scofield. The transcription attached is Swallow’s solo from the tune ‘Wrong Together’ from the ‘Real Book’ CD. The solo starts at around the 1:05 mark.

Unfortunately, the recording is only available behind a paywall on YouTube so you will have to look it up on your streaming service of choice or buy the CD – it is a lovely recording though so worth the investment.