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A long-time fan of the front-line pairings of the 1950s bands of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver (for whom "Silver Mine" is dedicated), Swainson shaped both his compositions and the blue-chip rhythm section of pianist Renee Rosnes (with whom he'd worked in the 1990s cross border band Free Trade) and Lewis Nash around this stylistic post-bop conception. With compositional dedications to musical influences (the aforementioned "Silver Mine"), to impactful places ("Kyushu," a musical reflection of time spent on this Japanese island), to people ("Fell Among Thieves" references a biblical parable that Swainson relates to some "wonderful" people he has known who fell into difficult company and circumstance), this new recording offers a personal glimpse inside Swainson's musical and compositional mind.

Track Listing

Press Quotes

Veteran bassist Swainson, who has recorded with Woody Shaw and George Shearing, leads an elegant straight ahead session with a set of originals

     —Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise

Hearing him lead this new quintet through his 10-song set of intelligently crafted pieces is sheer delight

     —Tom Henry, Toledo Blade

It seems a shame that Swainson waited 35 years to make Fire in the West, but maybe he needed those three-and-a-half decades' worth of sideperson gigs in order to hone his own artistry to make a record as good as this one

     —Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

A musical excursion well worth the wait

     —Pierre Giroux, All About Jazz

A solid work that gives you a peek at real musos let loose to do their thing

     —Chris Spector, Midwest record