jazz bass

Steve Swallow (born October 4th, 1940 in Fair Lawn, New Jersey) is a jazz bass guitarist and composer. As a child, Swallow studied piano and trumpet before turning to the double bass at age 14. While attending a preparatory school, he began trying his hand in jazz improvisation. In 1960 he left Yale, where he was studying composition, and settled in New York City, playing at the time in Jimmy Giuffre's trio along with Paul Bley. Since joining Art Farmer's quartet in 1964, Swallow began to write. It is in the 1960s that his long-term association with Gary Burton's various bands began.