Steve Swallow Quintet: Exit Stage Left

Earlier this year, Steve Swallow released a new album featuring a revised lineup of his quintet to include organ, guitar, bass, sax and drums.

“I had in mind a small band but one with interesting textural possibilities, a diversity and variety of sound,” Swallow said of his new lineup. “The knee-jerk reaction to a band with electric bass, electric guitar and organ is that it’s going to have a jazz-rock fusion kind of sound. But I wanted to show that you can go beyond those sonic models, that electric instruments can yield a more varied textural palette.”

That textural palette is displayed in this clip from the 48th Heineken Jazzaldia where Swallow and his band play the new album’s last track, “Exit Stage Left.” The bassist kicks things off with funky, strutting groove in his signature tone before each member adds their voice to the song.