Jazz Guitar Greats Vol. 1
Welcome to ACE Jazz Library - Podcast no.5This podcast features a selection of jazz guitar greats extending from the 1930's to the 1970's, touching on gypsy jazz, swing, bossa nova, blues, soul, cool and bop styles. The sequence is roughly in chronological order, giving a flavour of how jazz guitar styles developed, but beginning at the beginning to introduce the foundation influences and give you the heads up on where it's coming from we start with Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian, who basically created the space for others to fill. As ever on ACE Jazz Library we feature examples from outstanding album performances, which are well worth the purchase. To listen click on the title above.
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Django Reinhardt - Minor Swing, Nuage (The Best Of Django Reinhardt
) Capitol / Blue Note
Every good jazz collection should include Django Reinhardt, who has had a seminal influence on players ever since sweeping Europe in the 1930's and 40's with his "hot" gypsy jazz style, which is kept alive today by players such as Bireli Lagrene and Holland's Rosenberg Trio. Django first came to prominence with the all string Quintet of the Hot Club of France (1934), though his career could have been cut disastrously short when as a teenager his caravan caught fire and he suffered serious burns to his body, crippling the 4th and 5th finger of his left hand. Nonetheless he taught himself to play again with an adapted technique, which undoubtedly influenced his style thereafter. The quintet featuring Django's lead, 2 rhythm guitars, bass and Stephane Grappeli's immediately recognisable violin playing provided sufficient volume to overcome any lack of amplification and was a very succesful club act of the time. Critics and officianados will argue forever and a day as to which album best represents Reinhardt's always consummate output. Because of the era we must content ourselves with compilations, however for entry level and to understand just how Django fitted in and influenced the parallel development of swing I have chosen The (Capitol/Blue Note) Best of Django Reinhardt. This contains a good selection of the best early Quintet from 1936, before the wartime split, when Grappeli remained in London and some examples of the Big Band accompaniment on which Django became engaged in France. Extending up to 1948, also featured is a recording of Montmartre with the postwar visiting US jazzers Rex Stewart and his Feetwarmers.) Capitol / Blue Note 
It is often said that every jazz guitarist up until 1965 sounded like Charlie Christian. What this means is another question. Undoubtedly inflections of Django Reinhardt can be heard in some of Christian's work, so the statement cannot be taken too literally. Cross pollination within the swing genre was however inevitable, leading innovative players to emulate and expand on anothers style. Perhaps what is more important is that Chistian pioneered the use of electric guitar. He was also undoubtedly a genius of a player and though Django must be credited with establishing the guitar as a lead instrument, it was Christian who established the electric guitar as a lead within the big band genre at a time when small bands were beginning to take over. During a brief period from 1937 to his untimely death of tuberculosis at age 25 in 1942, Christian broke the mould of simple guitar as rhythm accompaniment and brought it up front with an infectiously perky plucking style that simply had to be heard. Followers on from Christian can simply be heard playing amplified guitar, typically plucked. It is arguable that it would be as difficult to sound unlike Christian as it would be for any saxophonist to sound totally unlike they were playing a saxophone. Subtle differences there inevitably are but what's the point of splitting hairs? When more sophisticated amplification and effects came along ca.1965 it was inevitable the guitar sound would develop further. [Likewise when Ornette Coleman came along in 1958 honking noisily on his cheap plastic alto sax, it was not wrong then to say this sound was Something Else and would likewise be emulated]. Fortunately during Christian's limited career he had the opportunity to jam with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, and Dizzy Gillespie at Minton's Playhouse and his short but highly innovative time in the limelight served to propel the big band sound of jazz headlong into the bebop revolution, firmly cementing a place for the guitar within the small band ensembles of the future. All of Christians recorded works are available, but for entry level this collection is a fabulous primer.
Wes Montgomery's commercial success came late in his career, during 1967 - 1968 when following several years with legendary producer Creed Taylor he established a popular crossover style accompanying string and woodwind ensembles with simple pop phrasings on guitar. A style later exploited in the 1970's and 80's with great commercial success and a deal more originality by George Benson. Montgomery's studio output from 1964 - 1968, just before his premature death from a heart attack, is often stylistically repackaged for modern audiences as "acid" or "lounge" jazz, though it displays little of his capabilities as a player. Like Benson though, Montgomery began in small ensembles, where his playing is best showcased. His whole early period with Riverside has now been boxed (1959-1963) but for entry level listeners he is best heard on the aptly titled Incredible Jazz Guitar (1960). Dropping the family band and organ trio formula of earlier recordings, for this date he travelled to New York to accompany Tommy Flanagan's piano trio, who were then a consummate and much sought after session group. The chemistry gelled and the result was an enthralling 44 minutes of outstanding playing that rightly lifted Montgomery into the Premier League of jazz guitarists. While often criticised for diverging from his roots by following Taylor's move into more easy listening styles, Montgomery's live dates remained blisteringly brilliant displays of virtuosity. Many critics agree that Smokin at the Half Note and The Complete Live in Paris contend for the best live album of the 1960's.
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| Winners and poles - jeez |
Barney Kessel was without doubt one of the most consummate professional guitarists, and not only on the jazz scene. Having picked the guitar up at age 12, he left home to play professionally at 14 and was jammin' with Charlie Christian at 16. His remarkable talents were readily noticed and he was associated throughout the 1940's in projects with Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Charlie Parker (appearing on the Dial Sessions), often causing quite a stir as the only white man in a band. During the late 1950s and early '60s he topped all the music polls in magazines such as Downbeat, playboy, Metronome and Esquire and along with Ray Brown and Shelley Manne built on that fame with three "Poll winners" albums, of which our podcast features the first. He was a studio artist at Columbia during the 1960's and featured on a multitude of TV and film scores, commercials and songs by artists such as The Beech Boys, Phil Spector and The Monkees. He is also often cited as the pioneer of the guitar power trio, ditching the convention of a piano containing quartet and leading the way for more improvisational virtuosity on guitar as a lead instrument, finely demonstrated on our podcast selection. He suffered a serious stroke in 1992 and was sadly no longer able to play, though he lived to the age of 80 and passed away in 2004 leaving over 60 albums to his name.
Charlie Byrd Trio - Blues for Night People (Byrd At The Gate, 1963)
Charlie Byrd's first love was Django Reinhardt and not surprisingly after managing a lucky jam with his hero in France as a teenager during the war he went back to school to study classical guitar. His career is thus remarkable for reintroducing the acoustic nylon string guitar to what had become a predominantly electric guitar scene. During the 1950's he released some classical albums, and combined classical recitals with jazz in his live sets, but it was following a tour of Brazil that he encountered the Bossa Nova scene which he introduced to Stan Getz on his return. The Jazz Samba album followed, with Getz, and is undoubtedly his most successful album, but for Byrd the latin influence was no passing phase, but a style for which he became famous and instantly recognisable. While the Bossa Nova boom raised his profile he cut a few successful albums for Riverside of which Byrd at the Gate is a superb live example, seemlessly crafting his latin guitar sounds with contributions from more conventional guests Clark Terry (trumpet) and Seldon Powell (tenor sax).
Grant Green - Idle Moments (Idle Moments, 1965)
St. Louis born Grant Green's sound was always blues tinged, not surprising when he began his career at 13 playing in a gospel band. Tutored by his father, he spent his formative years learning boogie woogie and rock & roll, which gave his playing a stripped down sound that might be associated with the economy of the 5 note blues scale. So even when playing bop it is Green's warmth and presence that shine through, rather than his technical excellence or speed. This makes Green one of the more accessible jazz guitarists, and while inevitably less adulated by critics for that, he nonetheless produced some incredibly consummate albums following his move to New York in 1960. Though arriving on the same scene at the same time as Wes Montgomery, Green came by introduction of Lou Donaldson to the Blue Note fraternity, where he immediately became the flourishing labels staple guitar player. Between 1960 and 1965 Green led on 19 of his own recordings, with an astonishingly consistent high calibre, producing classic albums such as Born to Be Blue, Nigeria, Oleo, The Matador and the sublime pinnacle featured in our podcast - Idle Moments (Bobby Hutcherson - vibes, Bob Cranshaw - bass, Joe Henderson - tenor sax, Duke Pearson - piano, Al Harewood - drums). His blues sound resulted in various dates with organists such as Larry Young, Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith, while Blue Note's resourceful development of its artist roster saw him combined with organist John Patton and drummer Ben Dixon to accompany various artists employing the new soul jazz sound, a genre into which Green would inevitably sidestep by the end of the decade. Sadly drug problems meant less consistent output in the late 1960's and 1970's and contributed to failing health and a premature death in 1979 at only 47 years old. But as a Blue Note staple he appeared on many classic albums of the period fronted by the likes of Ike Quebec, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson, Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Stitt and Donald Byrd.
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue (Midnight Blue, 1963) 
Jim Hall - The Answer is Yes (Concierto, 1975)
Kenny started playing aged 12 in Detroit and was heavily influenced by the local jazz and blues scene. Despite playing local gigs in his late teens and maintaining status with peers such as Tommy Flanagan and Elvin Jones, even making his recording debut with John Coltrane in a 1951 date with Dizzy Gillespie, he had the opportunity to study and attended Wayne University under the tutelage of Joe Fava founder of the Michigan Classical Guitar Society. With a B.A. in theory and composition under his belt he hit New York in the mid 1950's with his friend Flanagan where he rapidly established himself on Broadway accompanying big stars such as Tony Bennett and playing with Billie Holiday on her classic 1956 album Lady Sings the Blues and on Lena Horne's outstanding 1957 album Stormy Weather. By the late 1950's he had cemented his reputation as a frontman and has maintained a steadily high calibre of ouput ever since, and while continuing to perform, in recent years has been heavily involved in music education. Our podcast features the title track from the utterly sublime and blues drenched Midnight Blue. One for everybody's collection. Sit back and enjoy.
Jim Hall is another classically trained guitarist with a characteristically subtle technique, cool tone and a gift for extracting beautiful harmonics from a piece, especially when accompanying in small group settings. He has made notable duet recordings with pianist Bill Evans and bassist Ron Carter, but unlike Joe Pass who made this his forte, Hall has also excelled in larger group settings. This track from the outstanding Concierto album featuring Paul Desmond (tenor sax), Chet Baker (trumpet), Paul Hanna (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Steve Gadd (drums) is a classical example of the lovely cool sound the album just oozes, even on the uptempo pieces. Notwithstanding the album is an essential collectors item, in particular for the title piece - Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, which is given a 20 minute long beautiful cool jazz reworking by the all star ensemble. Essential.
Joe Pass - All The Things You Are (Virtuoso, 1973)
Following a promising start Joe Pass' career self imploded during the 1950's due to a debilitating drug habit, which he remarkably overcame via a 2.5 year stay in rehab. Thankfully he emerged to develop his formidable technique of solo accompaniment which defies description. Just listen to this track taken from his groundbreaking solo album as he switches from chord strumming to walking basslines to lead melody, all seemlessly interwoven with an encyclopaedic knowledge of chord inversions and progressions.
Track listing
0.25 Minor Swing: Django Reinhardt
3.39 Seven Come Eleven: Charlie Christian
6.22 Four on Six: Wes Montgomery
12.32 Nuage: Django Reinhardt
15.46 On Green Dolphin Street: Barney Kessel, Shelley Manne, Ray Brown
19.46 Blues for Night People: Charlie Byrd Trio
26.45 Idle Moments: Grant Green
41.37 Midnight Blue: Kenny Burrell
45.29 The Answer is Yes: Jim Hall
53.00 All The Things You Are: Joe Pass
0.25 Minor Swing: Django Reinhardt
3.39 Seven Come Eleven: Charlie Christian
6.22 Four on Six: Wes Montgomery
12.32 Nuage: Django Reinhardt
15.46 On Green Dolphin Street: Barney Kessel, Shelley Manne, Ray Brown
19.46 Blues for Night People: Charlie Byrd Trio
26.45 Idle Moments: Grant Green
41.37 Midnight Blue: Kenny Burrell
45.29 The Answer is Yes: Jim Hall
53.00 All The Things You Are: Joe Pass
