Steve Swallow Quotes

United States, Musician
October 4, 1940

Steve Swallow is a jazz bassist and composer noted for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.

Also known as Composer

I found it liberating of necessity to devise my own style and my own tactics and to look for a voice on the instrument because there weren't really any that impacted strongly on me.

Steve Swallow
- Style
- Voice
- Impact
I don't meditate before I play or compose, but I see playing and composing as meditative acts.

Steve Swallow

Partisans present some of the most refreshing music I've heard in a long while, uncompromising, very well written and very well played. It demands serious attention. I hear in these players a sense of common purpose and resolve, and a strong command of a dialect uniquely suited to this music. It's heartening to hear music that looks to find its own particular place.

Steve Swallow
- Music
- Find
- Place
Occasionally, when I run into a great bass backstage at a festival I'll play a few notes on the low E string, just to feel the instrument vibrate against my belly.

Steve Swallow
- Instrument
- Belly
- Vibrate