Biography

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Steve Swell has been living, working and performing in New York City for most of his adult life.In an effort to find his own voice on his instrument and to learn to write and arrange in a style of his own, he has sought out, performed and recorded with many of the finest composers and improvisors in the city. He has recorded and toured with such diverse jazz personalities as main streamers Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich, to so-called outsiders like Anthony Braxton and Jemeel Moondoc. Swell has 17 recordings as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artist on more than sixty other releases.

Swell first came to public attention performing with Makanda Ken McIntyre in the multi-instrumentalist's concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1985 of which Herb Boyd of The Amsterdam News wrote, "Swell possesses a forceful, but mature sound...with a vibrant syncopation..", Later, Swell came to international attention while touring in Europe and recording with altoist Tim Berne and his group "Caos Totale" There are two studio recordings of this band on the JMT label. During this time Steve also toured and recorded with Joey Baron's "Barondown" who released three CDs; one for JMT, New World and Avant.

Even though he is strongly identified with the "downtown scene" Swell has been developing his style in the more so-called "traditional avant-garde" arena. Co-leading such projects as "Space, Time, Swing" with Perry Robinson, being a sideman in William Parker's "Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra" and working with other similar people has kept him on this circuit. Dave McElfresh of Jazz Now wrote in a review of drummer Lou Grassi's CD, PoGressions, "Swell's powerful trombone zooms in and out of the music like a plane diving at a target. Players like himself - and music like this - are to be thanked for the revival of interest in the instrument."

Swell's newest CD, "Slammin' the Infinite" with Sabir Mateen, and "Desert Stories" with Gebhard Ullman and Barry Altschul were released at the end of 2004. His "Suite For Players", placed number 2 in the Cadence Magazine Readers Poll for 2004. His Fire into Music band, with Hamid Drake, Willam Parker and Jemeel Moondoc toured the states and Canada this past Fall, 2004. Swell was also a featured soloist in Anthony Braxtron's Opera, "Shala Fears For The Poor", performed at John Jay College in NYC. Steve recently taught a master class at New England Conservatory in Boston and he is also an artist/mentor in the NYC public system.

"Steve is unquestionably a trombone player; he attacks and exploits the instrument's peculiarities as a race car driver would a Ferrari. No wind-blown instrument is more capable of tonal extremes than the trombone, a fact that Swell makes manifest with his howling glissandi and chattering chromatic ism, to say nothing of a post bop linearity that would make J.J. Johnson proud. Swell has an extraordinary conventional technique which he puts to quite unconventional use, spiced liberally with an assortment of his own very personal idiosyncrasies."-Jazz Now Magazine

Steve Swell's web site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~sdswell/