The History of Jazz Guitar

The history of jazz guitar has been an integral part of the wide-ranging history of jazz. The early guitar players were the great blues singers who accompanied themselves on the guitar. By the 1930s, guitarists gained prominence in jazz and some were even featured performers, such as Carl Kress (1907-1965), who recorded in 1927 with Bix Beiderbecke. In Europe, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), a Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist recorded with his Quintette du Hot Club de France. Beginning in 1939, Charlie Christian played with Big Band Swing bandleader Benny Goodman, and in the bebop era, Tal Farlow was notable for his virtuoso playing.

In the 1960s, guitarists tended to play in small groups, such as Jim Hall, who did his best work in duos with Bill Evans, Ron Carter and others. Wes Montgomery was a self-taught guitarist who used his right thumb rather than a plectrum (pick) to produce his unique sound in his late-1950s and 1960s hard bop recordings. Joe Pass pioneered solo guitar with chordal substitutions in his duos with Ella Fitzgerald. Grant Green's was known for his funky 1970s organ trio music. FusionLarry Coryell (1943- ), John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, and Allan Holdsworth guitarists such as combined the sound and energy of rock with jazz-style improvisation.

1900s to 1920s

The history of the guitar in jazz is rooted in the great blues singers who accompanied themselves on the acoustic guitar, such as Big Bill Broonzy and Huddy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter. The banjo, because of its loud volume, was an early stringed accompaniment instrument in jazz in New Orleans and Dixieland music. Banjoists such as Johnny St. Cyr (1890-1966) and Bud Scott (1890-1949) also played guitar in jazz bands of the 1910s-1920s.Early jazz guitarists included Eddie Lang (1902-1933), Nick Lucas (1897-1982)^[3], Lonnie Johnson (1889-1970) and Snoozer Quinn (1906-1952).

1930s

Even as late as the early 1930s sophisticated jazz orchestras such as the Duke Ellington band still used a banjo to provide a rhythmic pulse. During the 1930s, though, guitarists gained prominence in jazz and some were even featured performers. Carl Kress (1907-1965) and Dick McDonough (1904-1938) made an early guitar duo recording in 1934. Kress was featured with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1926 and recorded in 1927 with Bix Beiderbecke. He initially played banjo and four-string guitar, changing over to six-string guitar in the 1930s. Kress used an unorthodox tuning that he created for himself. He played in the 1950s on the Gary Moore television show and into the 1960s in a duo with George Barnes. McDonough led radio and performing bands and performed with many other musicians such as the Dorsey Brothers.

Other successful jazz guitarists of the period included George Van Eps (1913-1998) and Freddie Green (1911-1987), who played rhythm guitar in the Count Basie Orchestra for 50 years.^[7]George Van Eps (1913-1998) began recording as early as 1934 and taped his last records in 1996, along the way inventing the 7 string guitar in the 1950s

In Europe, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), a Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist recorded with his Quintette du Hot Club de France with violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908 – 1997), a French jazz violinist. Reinhardt was an influential figure in jazz and among jazz guitarists as a soloist, accompanist and composer.^[9][10] The Quintette du Hot Club de France included Django Reinhardt's brother Joseph Reinhardt as well as several other Gypsy guitarists and non-Gypsy musicians. Because of international commerce, records featuring Django Reinhardt were heard in the United States and inspired many future famous jazz guitarists. Django's early style was influenced by the jazz of the time, including Louis Armstrong and was later influenced by bebopCharlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1946, Duke Ellington brought Django to the United States for a series of concerts. musicians such as Jazz guitar reached a watershed with the development of amplification using a magnetic pickup and amplifier. With its amplifier, an electric guitar could be as loud as horns, drums, and piano put together. This dramatically changed the way that the instrument could be used, because before amplification was available, the guitarist would just play chords, because single-not melodies would be unaudible. One of the very first jazz guitarists to experiment with the electric guitar was Eddie Durham (1906-1987) who was playing one as early as 1938.^[11] Durham showed the instrument to Charlie Christian (1916-1942) in 1937 and to Floyd Smith. On March 16, 1939 Smith recorded "Floyd's Guitar Blues," perhaps the first hit record featuring electric guitar. But it was Christian who was to become the central figure of the electric guitar revolution in jazz, playing with Benny Goodman after an audition on August 16, 1939. Christian was influenced by the records of Django Reinhardt, learning some of his solos note-for-note. Christian was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1940 and died at the Seaview Sanatorium in Staten Island in 1942.

1940s

The 1940s saw jazz guitarists becoem firmly established as soloists in their own right as well as accompanists. Playing with Nat King Cole brought Oscar Moore (1916-1981) to prominence in jazz and popular music. Moore was a pioneer for the role of jazz guitar in the small jazz ensemble and played with Cole for nearlya decade. Moore also played with Lionel Hampton and Art Tatum. Bill DeArango (1921-2005) played guitar with musicians of the caliber of Coleman Hawkins and Dizzy Gillespie. Billy Bauer (1915-2005) was a member of Woody Herman's first Herd and also played with Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden. Bauer was at the forefront of bringing the guitar into bebop, playing with Lennie Tristano and later Lee Konitz.

1950s and 1960s

In the 1950s, Herb Ellis' accomplished technique and elegant lines reached a wide public through the recordings of Oscar Peterson's trio. During the same time period, Tal Farlow's bebop virtuoso playing did much to make up the ground between the guitar and the other "frontline" instruments such as saxophone and trumpet. Kenny Burrell (1931-) did recordings in the 1950s with Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane and led his own groups.Lenny Breau (1941-1984) performs using an ensemble improvisational playing, along with a more orchestral fingerstyle solo jazz guitar. He used many diverse elements of music, including closed voicings, flamencomodal jazz harmony,an intimate knowledge of inversions and tritone substitutions, and a great understanding of bebop. Charlie Byrd (1925-1999) did nylon-string guitar recordings with saxophone player Stan Getz which helped popularize Brazilian bossa nova and samba music in North America. style guitar, use of varied rhythms, fingered harmonics, Jim Hall is a masterful melodic player,composer, and arranger who did his best work in duos with Bill Evans, Ron Carter and others. Hall has a melody-based, motivic approach to improvisation. Wes Montgomery was a self-taught guitarist who used his right thumb rather than a plectrum (pick) to produce his unique sound in his late-1950s and 1960s hard bopJoe Pass pioneered solo guitar with chordal substitutions in his duos with Ella Fitzgerald. recordings. George Benson (1943-)'s success as a pop vocalist in the 1970s made him a household name, but he was an influential jazz guitarist in the 1960s, particularly with his organ trio recordings with organist Jack MacDuff. Grant Green's funky 1970s organ trio music makes him a favourite with 2000s-era lounge and club DJ's, but much of Green's best jazz work can be found in his 1960s output. The king of the descending blues lick, Grant Green's deceptively simple style was full of groove and tone, and it is hard to replicate. Fusion guitarist Larry Coryell (1943-) was among the first to combine the sound and energy of rock with jazz lines in the late 1960s.

1970s and 1980s

John McLaughlin pioneered jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. John Abercrombie has recorded with Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette and the Brecker Brothers. He also explores often the parameters of jazz fusion and post bop. Pat Metheny is a Missouri-based guitarist and leader of his own band, the Pat Metheny Group with Lyle Mays on piano. Allan Holdsworth is a fusion virtuoso noted for his fluid, chromatic, lines and for his distinctive legato guitar technique. Holdsworth's influence can be felt outside of jazz, in heavy rock players such as Edward Van Halen and Joe Satriani. Ted Greene, a solo guitar performer and music educator influenced LA guitarists including Steve Vai and Steve Lukather with his chord melody work. Mike Stern, who came to prominence with Miles Davis during the 1980s, has a unique take on fusing blues rock guitar with be-bop lines in extended improvisations. Bill Frisell introduced folk and bluegrass music into jazz, use of intervals rather than single lines, combining harmonics and fretted notes. John Scofield played and collaborated with performers such as Miles Davis, and Billy Cobham, and groups such as Medeski Martin & Wood. At ease in the bebop idiom, Scofield is also well versed in jazz fusion, funk, blues, and soul.

1990s and 2000s

Stanley Jordan is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist, best known for his development of the touch technique for playing guitar. John Pizzarelli is a jazz guitarist, singer, songwriter who scat sings in unison with his guitar line. Randy Napoleon composes, arranges, and performs in the tradition of Wes Montgomery. Reviewer Ken Dryden from the All Music Guide notes that "Napoleon consistently shows that he is in full command of his instrument without resorting to overindulgent solos like many young players".