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Steve Swell | |
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 Steve Swell at the Arts for Art Vision Festival in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 6, 1954 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, free jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Trombone |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Website | www |
Steve Swell (born December 6, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator.
Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College [1] before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his musical life, playing in top 40 bands, salsa bands, big bands (most notably those of Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton) and performed on Broadway in Bob Fosse's Dancin' . He then became a member of Makanda Ken McIntyre's band, which led to tours and recordings with Tim Berne, Joey Baron, Herb Robertson, Jemeel Moondoc, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Bill Dixon, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Dave Burrell, Elliott Sharp, Rob Mazurek, Perry Robinson, Ken Vandermark.
In 2016, Swell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the State University of New York.
He is greatly influenced by Roswell Rudd, with whom he studied in the mid-1970s. [1] He was also a student of Grachan Moncur III and Jimmy Knepper.
Swell has led a number of projects, including the groups Slammin' the Infinite (ft. Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, Klaus Kugel), Fire Into Music (ft. William Parker, Jemeel Moondoc, Hamid Drake), Unified Theory of Sound (ft. Cooper-Moore, Matt Lavelle) and his large ensemble, Nation of We (a.k.a. NOW Ensemble).
Swell has received a number of awards including a USArts International (NEA) travel grant in 2006, grants from MCAF (LMCC) in 2008 and 2012, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant. He was nominated for Trombonist of Year in 2008, 2011, and 2020 by the Jazz Journalists Association, and respectively, in 2008-2010, 2012, 2014-2021, and 2023, by the Argentine jazz journal El Intruso. In 2008, he received a fellowship award from the Jubilation Foundation of the Tides Foundation for his work in the New York City public school system. He was selected by the DownBeat Critics Poll for the Trombone category from 2010-2023. He also received the 2014 Creative Curricula grant and the 2020 Creative Engagement grant for performances in Manhattan, both from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Swell is an inaugural recipient of a Jazz Road Tours grant from South Arts, which begun in 2019. In 2021, Swell received the City Artists Corps Grant (NYC).
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Out and About | CIMP | Steve Swell Quartet (Roswell Rudd, Ken Filiano, Lou Grassi) |
| 1996 | Observations | CIMP | duo with Chris Kelsey |
| 1997 | Moons of Jupiter | CIMP | Steve Swell Quartet (Mark Whitecage, Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen) |
| 1999 | Atmospheels | CIMP | Steve Swell Trio (Will Connell, Lou Grassi) |
| 2000 | Flurries Warm and Clear | CIMP | Steve Swell Trio (Ned Rothenberg, Tomas Ulrich) |
| 2001 | The Implicate Order at Seixal | Clean Feed | The Implicate Order (Ken Filiano, Lou Grassi, Rodrigo Amado, Paulo Curado) |
| 2001 | Steve Swellpresents Particle Data Group | Cadence Jazz | Bruce Eisenbeil, Gregg Bendian |
| 2002 | Poets of the Now | CIMP | Ursel Schlicht-Steve Swell Quartet (Tom Abbs, Geoff Mann, Ursel Schlicht) |
| 2003 | Suite for Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers | CIMP | Roy Campbell, Charles Burnham, Will Connell, Kevin Norton, Francois Grillot |
| 2003 | Still in Movement | CIMP | New York BrassWood Trio (Tom Abbs, Geoff Mann) |
| 2003 | This Now! | Cadence Jazz | Unified Theory Of Sound (Jemeel Moondoc, Cooper-Moore, Wilber Morris, Kevin Norton, Matt Lavelle) |
| 2004 | Invisible Cities | Drimala | duo with Perry Robinson |
| 2005 | Not Just... | CIMP | Dave Taylor-Steve Swell Quintet (David Taylor, Billy Bang, Tomas Ulrich, Ken Filiano) |
| 2006 | Double Dipoid | CIMP | Dave Taylor-Steve Swell Quartet (Dave Taylor, Warren Smith, Chad Taylor) |
| 2007 | Swimming in a Galaxy of Goodwill and Sorrow | RogueArt | Steve Swell's Fire Into Music (Jemeel Moondoc, William Parker, Hamid Drake) |
| 2008 | News from the Mystic Auricle | Not Two | Rivers of Sound Ensemble (Roy Campbell, Sabir Mateen, Hilliard Greene, Klaus Kugel) |
| 2009 | Planet Dream | Clean Feed | Rob Brown, Daniel Levin |
| 2009 | Magical Listening Hour (live at the South Street Seaport) | Cadence Jazz | Nate Wooley, Michael Attias, Louie Belogenis |
| 2013 | Feynman's Diagrams | Nacht | duo with Kirk Knuffke |
| 2015 | Kanreki: Reflection & Renewal | Not Two | Weasel Walter, Paul Flaherty, C. Spencer Yeh, Joe Williamson, Michael Vatcher, Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Guillermo Gregorio, Miguel Malla, Ned Rothenberg, Zara Acosta-Chen, Tom Buckner, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Darius Jones, James Ilgenfritz, Jonathan Golove, Omar Tamez |
| 2015 | Hommage à Bartók | Silkheart | Steve Swell's Kende Dreams (Rob Brown, Connie Crothers, William Parker, Chad Taylor) |
| 2016 | Soul Travelers | RogueArt | Steve Swell Quintet (Jemeel Moondoc, Dave Burrell, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver) |
| 2017 | Music for Six Musicians: Hommage à Olivier Messiaen | Silkheart | Rob Brown, Jason Kao Hwang, Tomas Ulrich, Robert Boston, Jim Pugliese |
| 2019 | Dances With Questions (live in Krakow) | Not Two | Carlos Zíngaro, Elisabeth Coudoux, Mikołaj Trzaska, Signe Emmeluth, Gebhard Ullmann, Hanne De Backer, Niklas Branö, Per Åke Holmlander, Elisabeth Harnik, Jon Rune Strøm, Paal Nilssen-Love |
| 2021 | Space Cube Jazz | RogueArt | Matt Shipp |
| 2022 | Welcome to the Troposphere (live in Munich) | Fundacja Słuchaj! | Elisabeth Harnik |
| 2023 | Over the Wall | RogueArt | PNY Quintet (Michel Edelin, Rob Brown, John Betsch, Peter Giron) |
| 2023 | For the People of the Open Heart | Fundacja Słuchaj! | Mark Tokar, Klaus Kugel |
| 2024 | Hommage à Galina Ustvolskaya | Silkheart | Steve Swell's Imbued with Light (Herb Robertson, Ben Stapp, Sara Schoenbeck, Chris Hoffman, Robert Boston, Harris Eisenstadt) |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Slammin' the Infinite | Cadence Jazz | Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Klaus Kugel |
| 2006 | Remember Now | Not Two | Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Klaus Kugel |
| 2007 | Live @ the Vision Festival | Not Two | Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Klaus Kugel, John Blum |
| 2010 | 5000 Poems | Not Two | Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Klaus Kugel, John Blum |
| Release year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Desert Songs and Other Landscapes | CIMP |
| 2010 | News? No News! | Jazzwerskstatt |
| 2010 | Live in Montreal | CIMP |
| 2022 | We're Playing in Here? | NoBusiness |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Live at the Bowery Poetry Club | Ayler | saxophone: Rob Brown, Will Connell, Saco Yasuma, Sabir Mateen, Ras Moshe; trumpet: Roy Campbell, Lewis Barnes, Matt Lavelle; trombone: Dick Griffin, Peter Zummo, Dave Taylor; piano: Chris Forbes; bass: Matthew Heyner, Todd Nicholson; drums:Jackson Krall |
| 2012 | The Business of Here | Cadence Jazz | alto saxophone: Darius Jones, Giuseppe Logan, Saco Yasuma, Will Connell; soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone: Bill Gagliardi; tenor saxophone, flute: Ras Moshe, Sabir Mateen; baritone saxophone, harmonica: Dave Sewelson; trumpet: Chris DiMeglio, Flip Barnes; trumpet, bass clarinet: Matt Lavelle; trombone: Peter Zummo; bass trombone: Dave Taylor; bass trombone, shells: Aaron Johnson; violin: Jason Hwang, Rosi Hertlein; cello: Daniel Levin; bass: Todd Nicholson; bass, voice (poem recitation): Albey Balgochian; drums, percussion: Jackson Krall |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Breathing Steam | Kilogram | Mikołaj Trzaska, Per Åke Holmlander, Tim Daisy |
| 2013 | Return from the Center of the Earth | Bocian | Mikołaj Trzaska, Per Åke Holmlander, Tim Daisy |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | PoZest | CIMP | Marshall Allen, Lou Grassi, Perry Robinson, Paul Smoker, Wilber Morris |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Real Time Messengers | CIMP | The Trascendentalists (with Daniel Carter, Tom Abbs, Dave Brandt) |
| 2006 | We Are Not Obstinate Islands | Clean Feed | The Diplomats (Rob Brown, Harris Eisenstadt) |
| 2011 | Donkere Golven | W.E.R.F. | International Trio (Joachim Badenhorst, Ziv Ravitz) |
| 2012 | Takes Off | Clean Feed | Platform 1 (Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Joe Williamson, Michael Vatcher) |
| 2013 | Dragonfly Breath | Not Two | Paul Flaherty, Weasel Walter, C. Spenser Yeh |
| 2013 | Latecomers | Ictus | Andrea Centazzo, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Anthony Coleman |
| 2013 | Estuaries | dEN | Andrew Raffo Dewar, Garrison Fewell |
| 2013 | Window and Doorway | Driff | Pandelis Karayorgis, Guillermo Gregorio |
| 2013 | Unto the Sun | Not Two | New Atlantis Octet (Ed Ricart, Roy Campbell, Aaron Martin, Jason Ajemian, Vattel Cherry, Andrew Barker, Sam Lohman) |
| 2014 | Turning Point | NoBusiness | Dave Burrell |
| Release year | Album | Label | Personnel | Access link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Steve Swell's Nation Of We | Ayler | Saxes: Rob Brown, Will Connell, Saco Yasuma, Sabir Mateen, Ras Moshe; trumpets: Roy Campbell, Lewis Barnes, Matt Lavelle; trombones: Dick Griffin, Peter Zummo, Dave Taylor; piano: Chris Forbes; bass: Matthew Heyner, Todd Nicholson; drums: Jackson Krall | Bandcamp link |
| 2014 | Schemata and Heuristics for Four Clarinets #1 | Relay | Ned Rothenberg, Guillermo Gregorio, Zara Acosta-Chen, Miguel Malla | Web-archive Bandcamp link |
With Active Ingredients (Chad Taylor, Jemeel Moondoc, Tom Abbs, Swell)
With Joey Baron
With Tim Berne
With Anthony Braxton
With Rob Brown
With Jaki Byard and the Apollo Stompers
With Bill Dixon
With Jemeel Moondoc
With William Parker
With Roswell Rudd
With Samo Salamon
With Alan Silva
With Cecil Taylor
With Ken Vandermark
With Tom Varner
| International | |
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| National | |
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| Other | |
