Often associated with the New York downtown scene,
Steve Swell is an underrated trombonist and a true team player capable of adapting to most situations. He incidentally picked up the trombone when he was ten. In 1973, he studied at Jersey City State College where he struck a long-lasting friendship with drummer
Lou Grassi. He went on to study with
Roswell Rudd who, alongside
Grachan Moncur III and
Bill Watrous, made the strongest impression on him.
Swell then moved up through the ranks learning the ropes with
Lionel Hampton,
Buddy Rich, and
Jaki Byard. In the early ‘80s, he spent a lot of time playing Broadway shows and at the Roseland. In the mid-'80s, he met
Ken McIntyre and
Walter Thompson, who reignited his interest in creative music. As for
Herb Robertson and Hank Roberts, they gave him a first taste of Europe. In the early ‘90s, he gained some more exposure with
Tim Berne's band as well as
Joey Baron's Barondown and
Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble. Continuing to enrich his experience as a sideman he later became a member of
The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra,
Lou Grassi's PoBand, and
Jemeel Moondoc's Jus Grew Orchestra. In 1996, he recorded his first album under his own name with saxophonist Chris Kelsey, Observations. He then took part in several cooperative bands, which include
the Implicate Order, the Transcendentalists, and the Particle Data Group, and led various incarnations of his quartet and trio. Through the years,
Swell has developed a special kinship with
Ken Filiano and
Lou Grassi, with whom he has shared a number of activities. In 2002, he started a new trio that included bassist
Tom Abbs and drummer
Geoff Mann. The following year saw the release of the first recording by his Unified Theory of Sound project featuring
Jemeel Moondoc,
Cooper-Moore,
Wilber Morris, Kevin Norton, and
Matt LaVelle. ~ Alain Drouot