Harvie S is still making a name for his creative musical style
What's in a name?
For bassist Harvie S, formerly known as Swartz, a whole lot of headaches, lost work, missed phone messages, and airline-counter confrontations.
Back when S carried a full complement of letters, his last name (which he has since legally changed to S) didn't interfere with him becoming one of jazz's standout accompanists, a virtuoso sought out by the music's elite, such as Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Jim Hall, Tommy Flanagan, and Yusef Lateef. But people couldn't seem to resist adding two extra consonants to Swartz, which meant that messages intended for him ended up on some guy named Harvie Schwartz's answering machine.
"People trying to hire me for gigs would get upset because they thought I wasn't returning their calls," says S, 59, who performs with his trio at Scullers on Wednesday. "Or people would tell me, 'I tried to call you, but you're not listed anywhere.' Every year it got worse and worse. It's just insane. Everyone feels there has to be a 'ch' in there. It causes me more problems than you can imagine."
One person who never had trouble keeping track of S is Fred Taylor, who started hiring the young bassist for Jazz Workshop gigs back in the late 1960s. A Massachusetts native born in Chelsea, S grew up in Marblehead and graduated from Berklee with a degree in composition and a piano minor.
He didn't start playing bass until 19 but took to the instrument so quickly that by the time he finished Berklee, he was part of the Workshop's house rhythm section with drummer Alan Dawson and pianist Ray Santisi, hired to back traveling artists such as Mose Allison, Chris Connor, Charlie Shavers, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims.
"He had a big sound and a strong rhythmic force that I liked," says Taylor, who has often featured S during his two-decade tenure as the entertainment director at Scullers. "He would push a group and make that rhythm section really move. But what I most admire is his continuous passion for the music. Some musicians are wonderful, but they stay in the same block. He just keeps moving forward."
In some circles, S is still best known as the daredevil who partnered with Sheila Jordan in the 1970s and '80s on a series of extraordinary duo recordings documenting their unprecedented bass-and-vocals improvisational high-wire act.
With credits on more than 200 albums, including 11 as leader, S has worked with a staggering array of artists, though his jazz profile faded in the 1990s after he started immersing himself in Latin music, quickly becoming a valued accompanist with masters such as Paquito D'Rivera, Ray Barretto, and Chico O'Farrill.
While he has returned to jazz full time, his music is deeply marked by his love of Afro-Caribbean grooves. His latest release, "Funky Cha" (Zoho), focuses on intricate original compositions that make canny use of Cuban rhythms without ever lapsing into familiar mambo-driven, Latin-jazz territory.
"A lot of the music down there has a different concept of form," says S, who has taught bass at Manhattan School of Music since 1984. "They'll play a tune that's very complicated up front, then an open groove section, and a big ending that never goes back to the intro. I've used some of that. I never really tried to have an authentic Cuban band. My music was always built on jazz."
Featuring Mexican-born, New York-based pianist Enrique Haneine and drummer William "Beaver" Bausch, the trio S performs with on Wednesday reflects the concept he's developed in recent years.
"Harvie is an incredible musician no matter what style he plays," says Haneine, who spent many years in the Boston area while studying at Berklee and the Boston Conservatory. "Some of his new compositions aren't necessarily Latin jazz but use a lot of odd meters and free sections. His music isn't easy. It's open to improvisation and different rhythms and colors."
Beyond his instrumental prowess, prolific work as a composer, and restless creative drive, S is universally lauded by his peers as a mensch. Like Dizzy Gillespie, he has a knack for collaborating with exceptional female players. After his landmark duo collaborations with Jordan, he went on to work with guitarist Leni Stern, pianist Peggy Stern (no relation), and soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. He is a member of saxophonist Virginia Mayhew's band and often performs with guitarist Mimi Fox.
"Women can be as good as or better than any guy on any instrument," S says.
And the bassist known as S by any other name would play as sweet. The stripped-down moniker just means this big-time talent can rest assured that he's getting his phone messages. 