The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Reggie Workman, Steve Swallow, and Joseph Jarman

January 22nd, 2025

…..The Naples, Italy native Giovanni Piesco is an Amsterdam-based photographer who since 1985 has taken photographs of the famous and the unknown, in places and in ritual, consistently demonstrating a flair for capturing the essence of human character.

…..Among his passions is jazz music and the musicians who create it. Beginning in 1990, Giovanni began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world.

…..Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition features 1999 photographs of the bassists Reggie Workman and Steve Swallow, and the multi-instrumentalist Joseph Jarman.

All photos © Giovanni Piesco

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Reggie Workman
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Steve Swallow

Joseph Jarman

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The bassist Reggie Workman has played with many of the greatest jazz musicians of the bop and post-bop era, including Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton and Lee Morgan. In 2020, he was named an NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

He played with Coltrane in the early 1960’s, and can be heard on this performance of Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel’s composition “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” with Coltrane (saxophone); McCoy Tyner (piano); and Elvin Jones (drums). [Universal Music Group]

Steve Swallow is a jazz bassist and composer best known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley (who eventually became Swallow’s romantic partner). Beginning in the early 1970’s, he has played exclusively on the electric bass.

His work with Carla Bley is what he is best known for, having recorded many albums with her, either within her band or as leader. Their last collaboration was on the 2019 Carla Bley album Life Goes On, with Bley (piano); and Andy Sheppard (saxophones). The title track, written by Bley, can be heard here. [Universal Music Group]

Joseph Jarman primarily played saxophone and clarinet, and also played virtually every woodwind and percussion instrument. In addition to being a jazz musician, he was also a poet, composer, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He died in 2019 at the age of 81.

Listen to Jarman play his composition “Fanfare for the Warriors” from the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s 1973 album of the same name, with Jarman (flute, saxophone); Don Moye (percussion); Lester Bowie (flugelhorn, trumpet); Malachi Favors (bass); Muha Richard Abrams (piano); and Roscoe Mitchell (saxophone). [Rhino/Atlantic]