Steve Swell

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Steve Swell
Background information
Born (1954-12-06) December 6, 1954
Newark, New Jersey, USA
Genres Jazz, Free Jazz, New Music, Improvisation
Occupations Trombonist, Composer, Teacher
Instruments Trombone
Years active 1975–present
Website http://www.steveswell.com

Steve Swell (born in Newark, NJ, December 6, 1954) is an American free jazz trombonist and composer.

Biography

Swell studied at Jersey City State 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, Elliott Sharp, Rob Mazurek, Perry Robinson, Ken Vandermark.

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 a number of projects including Slammin' The Infinite (w/Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, Klaus Kugel), Fire Into Music (w/William Parker, Jemeel Moondoc, Hamid Drake), Unified Theory Of Sound (w/Cooper-Moore, Matt Lavelle) and his large ensemble Nation Of We (aka NOW Ensemble).

Steve has received a number of awards including a USArts International (NEA) travel grant in 2006, grants from MCAF (LMCC) in 2008 & 2012, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and was nominated for Trombonist of Year, 2008 & 2011 by the Jazz Journalists Association. He was chosen Trombonist of the Year 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2012 by El Intruso, the Argentine jazz journal. In 2008 he received a fellowship award from The Jubilation Foundation of the Tides Foundation for his work in the NYC public school system and was selected by the Downbeat Critics Poll in the Trombone category 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013.

Discography

As leader

  • Latecomers - Andrea Centazzo/Giancarlo Schiaffini/Steve Swell/Anthony Coleman - Ictus Records 168 (2013)
  • Estuaries - Andrew Raffo Dewar/Garrison Fewell/Steve Swell - dEN Records 014 (2013)
  • Window and Doorway - Pandelis Karayorgis/Guillermo Gregorio/Steve Swell - Driff Records CD1301 (2013)
  • Unto the Sun: New Atlantis Octet - Ed Ricart, Roy Campbell, Steve Swell, Aaron Martin, Jason Ajemian, Vattel Cherry, Andrew Barker, Sam Lohman - NotTwo Records MW 873-2 (2013)
  • Feynman's Diagrams - Steve Swell/Kirk Knuffke Duo - Nacht Records (2013)
  • Steve Swell's Nation of We: The Business of Here - Sabir Mateen, Darius Jones, Will Connell, Ras Moshe, Giuseppe Logan, Jason Hwang, Rosi Hertlein, Danile Levin, Jackson Krall, Todd Nicholson, Alby Balgochia, Flip Barnes, Matt LaVelle, Chris Demiglio, Dave Taylor, Peter Zummo, Aaron Johnson, Chris Forbes - Cadence Jazz Records CJR-1238 (2012)
  • Platform 1: Takes Off - Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Steve Swell, Joe Williamson, Michael Vatcher - Clean Feed CF-255 (2012)
  • International Trio: Donkere Golven - Joachim Badenhorst, Steve Swell, Ziv Ravitz - W.E.R.F.095
  • Inner Ear: Breathing Steam - Mikolaj Trzaska, Steve Swell, Per Ake Holmlander, Tim Daisy - Kilogram Records (1 kg-021)
  • Slammin' The Infinite: 5,000 Poems - Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner, Klaus Kugel, John Blum - NotTwo Records(MW-827-2) 2009
  • News? No News!Ullmann/Swell 4 - Barry Altschul, Hill Greene - Jazzwerskstatt (JW 068) (2010)
  • Live in MontrealUllmann/Swell 4 - Barry Altschul, Hill Greene - CIMPoL 5013
  • Swimming in a Galaxy of Goodwill and Sorrow - Steve Swell's Fire Into Music w/Jemeel Moondoc, William Parker, Hamid Drake - RogueArt 09 (2006)
  • Live at the Bowery Poetry Club (Ayler Records, 2006)

As sideman

With William Parker

  • Essence of Ellington - Live in Milano - William Parker Orchestra featuring Kidd Jordan with Hamid Drake, Dave Burrell, Ernie Odoom, Roy Campbell, Matt LaVelle, Steve Swell, Willie Applewhite, Rob Brown, Darius Jones, Sabir Mateen, Ras Moshe, Dave Sewelson - Centering RecordsCentering 1008/10092 CDs(2012)
  • For Percy Heath - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Sabir Mateen and many others - Victo CD 102 (2005)
  • Spontaneous - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Andrew Barker and many others - Splasc(H) CDH 855.2 (2002)
  • Raincoat In The River - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Andrew Barker and many others - Eremite 036 (2001)
  • Mayor Of Punkville - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Chris Jonas, Andrew Barker and many others - AUM0015/16 2 CDs (1999)
  • Sunrise In The Tone World - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Cooper-Moore and many others - AUM002/3 2 CDs (1995)
  • Flowers Grow In My Room - William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra w/Roy Campbell, Rob Brown, Cooper-Moore and many others - Centering Records CD1002 (1994)

With Anthony Braxton

  • Trillium R Opera - Braxton House (4-CD set) 1997

With Jemeel Moondoc

  • Live at the Vision Festival 2001 - Jemeel Moondoc's The Jus Grew Orchestra (Tyone Hill, Roy Campbell, Gerald Cleaver, Michael Marcus, Berne Nix) - Ayler Records aylCD-047 (2001)
  • Spirit House - Jemeel Moondoc w/The Jus Grew Orchestra Live at Amherst - Eremite MITE 029 (2000)

With Alan Silva

  • Celestial Communications Orchestra (4-CD set) Live in Poschiavo, Switzerland w/Kidd Jordan, Joseph Bowie, Wilber Morris, Daniel Carter, many others - Eremite MTE 039, 040, 041, 042 (2001)
  • Vision Festival Orchestra w/Raphe Malik, Bill Lowe, JD Parran, Will Connell, Stephen Haynes, and many others - Eremite MTE 026 (1999)

With Bill Dixon

  • 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur Live @ The Vision Festival 2007 w/Dick Griffin, Joe Daley, Steve Swell, Warren Smith, Jackson Krall, JD Parran and many many more - AUM Fidelity (AUM 046) 2007

With Cecil Taylor

  • All The Notes (DVD) Cecil Taylor and Orchestra Humane - Chris Felver Films (2005)

With Jaki Byard and the Apollo Stompers

With Tom Varner

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Drouot, Alain. "Steve Swell: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-10-25. 

External links

Authority control
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