Jazz guitar

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Jazz guitar refers to the use of guitar in jazz music. The earliest guitars used in jazz were acoustic guitars. While acoustic guitars are still sometimes used in jazz, since the 1940s, most jazz guitarists perform with the electric guitar, an amplified instrument.

1 History
- 1.1 1920s-1930s
- 1.2 1940s
2 Notable jazz guitarists
- 2.1 A-D
- 2.2 E-H
- 2.3 J-M
- 2.4 N-Q
- 2.5 R-V
3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1920s-1930s

The guitar has a long history in jazz music, both as an ensemble instrument performing chordal accompaniment, and as a solo instrument. In jazz ensembles of the 1920s, the banjo was the standard stringed, chord-playing rhythm instrument. Even as late as the early 30s sophisticated jazz orchestras such as Duke Ellington's still used a banjo. In the late 30s, however, several guitarists helped to pave the way for the introduction of guitar into jazz ensembles.

Lonnie Johnson (1894-1970), a New Orleans-born guitarist, was one of the early guitarists to perform single-string (as opposed to chord-based) guitar solos. Lonnie performed with and influenced guitarist Eddie Lang (1902-1933), who also performed with jazz violinist Joe Venuti and many of the white jazz bands from the 1920s. Other early jazz guitarists included George F. Dudley, Roy Butin, Sam Moore, and Johnny St. Cyr. Louis Armstrong's Hot Five band would used the guitar in a melodic role.

[edit] 1940s

Charlie Christian (1916-1942) was a Benny Goodman Orchestra member who developed an influential style of electric guitar "single-string" soloing. In Europe, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), a French Gypsy jazz guitarist recorded with his "Quintette du Hot Club de France" with violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Freddie Green (1911-1987) was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra, and a strong rhythm guitar player who developed an influential approach to chorded accompaniment.

[edit] Notable jazz guitarists

[edit] A-D

Duck Baker (1949-) a primarily acoustic jazz guitarist.
George Barnes (1921-1977) claimed to be earliest electric guitarist (see also Charlie Christian).
George Benson (1943-) although better known as a singer, his early work with Brother Jack MacDuff and other jazz artists was influential in the 1960s. Benson also recorded briefly with Miles Davis. An incredibly fluent player squarely in the hard bop tradition, Benson's formidable resources as a guitarist have survived the pop/soul career launched in the '70s by his remarkable voice, and through hits like This Masquerade and On Broadway he has, arguably, introduced more people to jazz guitar than any other artist. He is famous for scat singing his lines as he plays them.
Ed Bickert (1932) Charter member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass. Known especially for preferring the Fender Telecaster over the archtop guitar.
Lenny Breau (1941-1984) a cross-over from finger-style country music to Jazz, Breau maintained separate rhythm and solo lines on his guitar, similar to the way a jazz pianist plays.
Jimmy Bruno
Charlie Byrd (1925-1999) was a classically-trained guitarist who played jazz on a nylon-string guitar. With saxophone player Stan Getz, Byrd helped popularize Brazilian bossa nova and samba music in North America.
Kenny Burrell (1931-) a guitarist with a strong bebop and blues background, who originally recorded with Dizzy Gillespie. Burrell also recorded many fine cuts with jazz organ legend Jimmy Smith.

Larry Coryell (1943-) Fusion giant Larry Coryell practically invented the genre, and was among the first to attempt to combine the sound and energy of rock with jazz lines.

Jim Douglas (1943-) Best know as guitarist for the Alex Welsh Band, he completed 19 years with the group. One of Britain's most fluent, experienced and eloquent guitarists, he continues to perform today.

[edit] E-H

Herb Ellis Herb Ellis's accomplished technique and elegant lines reached it's widest public through the recordings of Oscar Peterson's trio.
John Etheridge John Etheridge's ferocious playing has won him many admirers including Pat Metheny. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the guitar, and can be heard playing everything from Frank Zappa through to elegant chord melody arrangements of standards.

Tal Farlow, be-bop virtuoso who did much to make up the ground between the guitar and the other frontline instruments. Farlow's lightning technique and fertile imagination made him a hero in guitar circles, but he gave up the rigours of a musical career for a quiet rural life supporting him self by sign painting and teaching fortunate, select students, until his recent death.
Bill Frisell, possed of an economical style intitially influenced by Jim Hall, Frisell has introduced strong elements of folk and bluegrass music into jazz. His distinctive style of playing is notable for his use of intervals rather than single lines, and his ability seamlessly combines harmonics and fretted notes. Frisell often calls on a wide variety of guitar effects to build his unique sound scapes.

Steve Giordano
Mick Goodrick, a guitarist whose former students include Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Benjamin Rodefer and Wolfgang Muthspiel.
Grant Green, king of the descending blues lick, Grant Green's deceptively simple style was full of groove and tone, and is hard to replicate. His funky '70s music makes him a favourite with jazz loving club DJ's, but much of Green's best jazz work can be found in his 60's output.
Ted Greene, solo guitar performer (wiithout a backing band). Ted Greene was something of a guru figure among LA guitarists, with champions including Steve Vai and Steve Lukather, although he never achieved widespread fame and worked as a teacher for his entire career. His chord melody work, which can be heard on his only album, must stand as some of the most ambitious and complex ever recorded. He was also able to improvise non-jazz styles of harmony, such as baroque counterpoint, on the guitar.

Jim Hall Masterful melodic player/composer/arranger, his best work in duos with Bill Evans, Ron Carter and others. Jim Hall's melody based, motivic approach to improvisation has much in common with sometime bandmate Sonny Rollins. A massivley intelligent and musical rather than virtuosic player, Jim Hall msut stand as one of the most important jazz musicinas to play the guitar.
Allan Holdsworth, fusion virtuoso noted for his fluid, chromatic, lines and for his distinctive legato guitar technique. Due to his technical innovation on distorted electric guitar Holdsworth's influence can be felt outside of jazz, in heavy rock players such as Edward Van Halen and Joe Satriani

[edit] J-M

Stanley Jordan

Barney Kessel 1923-2004

Lage Lund Winner of the 2006 Thelonious Monk competition. Tasteful and complex lines and comping.

Russell Malone
Pat Martino
Roman Miroshnichenko, a Russian jazz guitarist.
John McLaughlin Jazz-Rock Fusion pioneer in the 1970s
Pat Metheny, Missouri-based guitarist and leader of his own band, the Pat Metheny Group with Lyle Mays on piano.
Wes Montgomery, master of the tasteful modern style. Wes was self-taught and used his right thumb rather than a plectrum (pick) to produce his unique sound.

[edit] N-Q

Randy Napoleon, backed Michael Buble, performed with Benny Green and with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, while putting out ground-breaking albums with his own trio.
Joe Negri
Joe Pass, pioneered solo guitar with extreme chordal substitutions and duos with Ella Fitzgerald.
Les Paul, a Grammy-winning jazz guitarist and pioneer in the use of the solid body electric guitar (the Gibson Les Paul) and electronic effects pedals.
John Pisano, usually chose the role of supporting player but has, none the less, left his mark on the history of jazz guitar.

[edit] R-V

Howard Roberts Studio guitarist with a funky jazz style.

Benjamin Rodefer Younger guitarist who has played with many of the new vanguard of jazz musicians.
Adam Rogers is a bop virtuoso
Kurt Rosenwinkel Considered by many to be the best new voice in jazz guitar.
John Scofield
Floyd "Wonderful" Smith, a contemporary of Django Reinhardt, who inspired Charlie Christian and influenced George Benson, and a member of the Andy Kirk band.
Johnny Smith master of difficult, close chord voicings.
Pete Smyser
Mike Stern coming to prominence with Miles Davis during the '80s, Stern has a unique take on fusing blues rock guitar with be-bop lines. Stern's playing often works best in extended improvisations, where his skill in building tension and release are given full reign. Over the past ten years or so, a strong baroque influence has grown in his playing.
Andy Summers accomplished fusion and jazz gutiarist most famous for his work with multi-platinum rock band Police. His playing and writing with the band revealed his advanced knowledge of harmony and arrangement but it his recording with such artists as John Etheridge and his solo albums that have revealed his considerable skills as an improviser.

Martin Taylor an early protegé of Stéphane Grappelli who further developed Joe Pass's playing style. Like Pass, Martin Taylor's playing features a virtuosic fingerstyle approach that combines basslines, melodies, chords and solo lines, sounding like several players at once. His is a more contrapuntal and energetic approach than most traditional solo guitar playing, and musically satisfying enough to win him a large audience outside both guitar circles and jazz listeners.

René Thomas, Belgian guitarist.

George Van Eps, who played a 7-string guitar and coined the term "lap piano." Van Eps was among the first guitarists in jazz with a fully developed solo guitar chord melody style, and his playing has been highly influential on later players.