In 2001,
Harvie Swartz started going by
Harvie S, which was sort of like Sheila Escovedo going by
Sheila E. or
Jennifer Lopez calling herself J-Lo. The acoustic bassist did it because he was sick of people misspelling his last name;
Swartz figured that if people couldn't remember the correct spelling of his last name, he would simply go by
Harvie S. Recorded in 2001,
New Beginning was the first
Swartz album that came out after the name change. This excellent CD finds the improviser leading his band, Eye Contact, a hornless sextet that employs Bruce Arnold on guitar,
Daniel Kelly on acoustic piano, Gregor Hubnor on violin, Adam Weber on drums, and Renato Thoms on percussion. The material is essentially post-bop with a strong Afro-Cuban influence and occasional hints of European chamber music -- generally more straight-ahead than fusion and more acoustic than electric, although Arnold's electric guitar solos do bring some tracks into the fusion realm. The classical influences are definitely subtle -- nothing as overtly classical-minded as
the Modern Jazz Quartet or
Gunther Schuller -- but they are there nonetheless. Although
New Beginning isn't innovative, the songs (most of them
Swartz originals) are still fairly fresh-sounding.
New Beginning is not an album of bop clichés, and
Swartz's musicians don't spend all of their time trying to show you how fast they can play "Giant Steps" and "Oleo." Most of the time, the soloists are lyrical and relatively accessible; this is true of Eye Contact's members as well as guests, who include trumpeter
Ray Vega and the influential tenor saxman
Michael Brecker. Whether you call him
Harvie S or still think of him as
Harvie Swartz,
New Beginning is an album that the bassist should be proud of. ~ Alex Henderson