It’s the birthday week for jazz bassists Jimmy Blanton, Eddie Gomez and Steve Swallow. Who are these cats, you ask? Well, Blanton played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and took the bass out of the rhythm section and into the solo spotlight for the first time. Gomez played with Bill Evans and expanded the bassman’s reach into Latin jazz. And Steve Swallow brought the bass guitar to jazz with his long-standing gig backing up vibraphonist Gary Burton.
That makes for three great reasons to get “down” with some of
