Steve Swallow – Winter Songs

Recorded in September 2024, less than a year after the death of his partner Carla Bley, this new album by Steve Swallow features melodies that could be described, at least in part, as mournful—if only because the bassist has given them no titles, simply calling them “One,” “Two,” “Three”… not to mention the album’s winter-themed title.

Yet there is nothing gloomy about this series of nine themes penned by the bandleader, who here adopts the sextet format for the first time, featuring two horn players and two harmonic instruments. The tempos are mostly slow or medium, and the atmosphere is often contemplative or more uplifting, with an ensemble sound of quiet and often majestic beauty. Contributing to this atmosphere are seasoned musicians such as the forty-something trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and the fifty-something saxophonist Chris Cheek—whom Swallow had once played alongside in Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band—both of whom possess a magnificent, richly textured tone and whose improvisations are first-rate. Seventy some-year-old pianist Gil Goldstein, for his part, brings a luminous touch and first-rate harmonic mastery to the ensemble, to which sixty some-year-old guitarist Steve Cardenas adds a highly subtle six-string tone.

Adam Nussbaum, who has been a longtime collaborator of Swallow’s, is the ideal drummer for this type of music, and his chemistry with the bandleader is palpable, providing a refined rhythmic foundation for the improvisations of the horns, the pianist, and the guitarist. All in all, this is a body of work that is both highly cohesive and remarkably diverse, in which Swallow has clearly sought a group sound that is both personal and unapologetically classical.

A fine achievement from an octogenarian musician whom the years seem to have no hold over and who constantly reinvents himself, much to our delight.

Line up:

Steve Swallow: electric bass

Mike Rodriguez: trumpet

Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone

Gil Goldstein: piano

Steve Cardenas: guitar

Adam Nussbaum: drums

Label: EMC

Release: June 2026