Always Pack Your Uniform on Top

Along with being an extraordinary bass player, Steve Swallow is one of the more intriguing composers and bandleaders in jazz, qualities that are apparent in this live recording from Ronnie Scott's Club in London. His quintet mixes youth and experience, putting young tenor saxophonist Chris Potter and journeyman trumpeter Barry Ries in the midst of wily veterans Mick Goodrick on guitar and Adam Nussbaum on drums. It's jazz beyond genre, a heady mix that touches on swing, bop, and cool, with even a wafting breeze of bossa nova, and there's often an undercurrent of thoughtful playfulness. “Bend Over Backward” begins with a bass solo that touches on “Heart and Soul” and Bach, and the tune's set to a happily lumpy two-beat rhythm. When the requisite blues turns up, it's both soulful and ironic, tellingly titled “La Nostalgie de la Boue.” Swallow, Nussbaum, and Goodrick play with a freedom that makes them much more than a rhythm section, and there's a sense in which each piece is being continuously shaped, blurring the lines between composition and solos. Potter seems to be working backward from his Sonny Rollins influence, swinging mightily and invoking the great prebop tenors as few modern players–Ricky Ford, Bennie Wallace–can, while Ries is a coolly thoughtful foil to his exuberance. Swallow gets every player in the band to deliver on his potential, making this one of the liveliest CDs of 2000. –Stuart Broomer