Jazz guitarist
Encyclopedia
Jazz guitarists are guitar
players who play jazz
music on the guitar using an approach to playing chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar
playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist ("rhythm guitar
") and soloist
in small and large ensembles and also as an unaccompanied solo instrument. Until the 1930s, before guitar amplifiers were widely used, it was difficult for jazz guitarists playing acoustic instruments to be heard over drums, piano or horn sections. As a result, jazz guitarists tended to act as accompanists, strumming chords as part of the rhythm section
. Once the first guitar amplifiers
were developed in the 1930s, electric guitarists such as George Barnes
and Charlie Christian
were able to project their solo sound over a jazz ensemble.
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
was known for his 1960s organ trio
music. Fusion
guitarists such as Larry Coryell
(1943- ), John McLaughlin
, Pat Metheny
, and Allan Holdsworth
combined the sound and energy of rock with jazz-style improvisation.
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), Lonnie Johnson
(1889–1970) and Snoozer Quinn
(1906–1952).
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. 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 violin
ist 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. 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 bebop
musicians such as Charlie Parker
and Dizzy Gillespie
. In 1946, Duke Ellington
brought Django to the United States for a series of concerts.
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-note melodies would be inaudible. 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. 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.
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 nearly a 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
.
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, flamenco
style guitar, use of varied rhythms, fingered harmonics, modal 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.
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 bop
recordings. Joe Pass
pioneered solo guitar with chordal substitutions in his duos with Ella Fitzgerald
.
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.
pioneered jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. John Abercrombie has recorded with Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette and the Brecker Brothers. He also often explores 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, Fredrik Thordendal
, 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.
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.
Kurt Rosenwinkel
is known for his distinct sound and style of improvisation that is influenced by diverse artists.
Royce Campbell
, who toured with composer Henry Mancini
for 19 years, is featured on dozens of recordings, both as a leader and as a sideman. Drawing on a range of influences from Wes Montgomery
to Joe Pass
, Campbell has been noted for his tone and melodic feel.
Michael Bocian jazz and classical guitarist, author of "25 Etudes For Contemporary Guitar", leader on more than 15 cd's. Played with Dewey Redman, Joe Lovano, Rashid Ali , Richie Beirach, and many more. Originally from Cleveland Ohio has resided in New York for the last 36 years
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
players who play jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music on the guitar using an approach to playing chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar
Jazz guitar
The term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of guitar playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz"...
playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist ("rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
") and soloist
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
in small and large ensembles and also as an unaccompanied solo instrument. Until the 1930s, before guitar amplifiers were widely used, it was difficult for jazz guitarists playing acoustic instruments to be heard over drums, piano or horn sections. As a result, jazz guitarists tended to act as accompanists, strumming chords as part of the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
. Once the first guitar amplifiers
Instrument amplifier
An instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal from musical instruments such as an electric guitar, an electric bass, or an electric keyboard into an electronic signal capable of driving a loudspeaker that can be heard by the...
were developed in the 1930s, electric guitarists such as George Barnes
George Barnes (musician)
George Barnes was a world-renowned swing jazz guitarist, who claimed he played the first electric guitar in 1931, preceding Charlie Christian by six years. George Barnes made the first recording of an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with Big Bill Broonzy.-Biography:George Barnes was born in...
and Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
were able to project their solo sound over a jazz ensemble.
Carl Kress
Carl Kress was an American jazz guitarist.-Musical career:Kress began his career with Paul Whiteman in 1926, and thereafter launched a successful career as a studio guitarist...
(1907–1965), who recorded in 1927 with Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
. In Europe, Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
(1910–1953), a Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist recorded with his Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and active in one form or another until 1948....
. Beginning in 1939, Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
played with Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
Swing bandleader Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, and in the bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
era, Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
was notable for his virtuoso playing.
In the 1960s, guitarists tended to play in small groups, such as Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
, who did his best work in duos with Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
and others. Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
was a self-taught guitarist who used his right thumb rather than a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
(pick) to produce his unique sound in his late-1950s and 1960s hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
recordings. Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
pioneered solo guitar with chordal substitutions in his duos with Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. Grant Green
Grant Green
Grant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....
was known for his 1960s organ trio
Organ trio
An organ trio, in a jazz context, is a group of three jazz musicians, typically consisting of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet...
music. Fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
guitarists such as Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
(1943- ), John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, and Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
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 Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Arthur Blake, Big Bill BroonzyBig Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
and Huddy "Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
" Ledbetter. The banjo, because of its loud volume, was an early stringed accompaniment instrument in jazz in New Orleans and Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
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
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
(1902–1933), Nick Lucas
Nick Lucas
Nick Lucas born Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese was an American singer and pioneer jazz guitarist, remembered as "the grandfather of the jazz guitar", whose peak of popularity lasted from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s.-Career:In 1922, at the age of 25, he gained renown with his hit renditions...
(1897–1982), Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
(1889–1970) and Snoozer Quinn
Snoozer Quinn
Ed "Snoozer" Quinn was a jazz guitarist very highly regarded by his fellow musicians, but who left few recordings.Quinn was born Edward McIntosh Quinn in Pike County, Mississippi in 1907. He and his family moved to Bogalusa, Louisiana when he was a toddler...
(1906–1952).
1930s
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
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
Carl Kress
Carl Kress was an American jazz guitarist.-Musical career:Kress began his career with Paul Whiteman in 1926, and thereafter launched a successful career as a studio guitarist...
(1907–1965) and Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough was an influential American jazz guitarist and composer. His major recordings included "Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jibe" with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Johnny Mercer, "Stage Fright" with Carl Kress, "Chasin' a Buck", "Feelin' No Pain", recorded in 1927 with Red Nichols, and...
(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
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
. 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
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
television show and into the 1960s in a duo with George Barnes
George Barnes (musician)
George Barnes was a world-renowned swing jazz guitarist, who claimed he played the first electric guitar in 1931, preceding Charlie Christian by six years. George Barnes made the first recording of an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with Big Bill Broonzy.-Biography:George Barnes was born in...
. 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
George Van Eps
George Van Eps was an American swing and Mainstream jazz guitarist noted both for his recordings as a leader, and for his work as a session musician. He was also the author of instructional books that explored his approach to guitar-based harmony...
(1913–1998) and Freddie Green
Freddie Green
Frederick William "Freddie" Green was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and...
(1911–1987), who played rhythm guitar in the Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
for 50 years. George Van Eps
George Van Eps
George Van Eps was an American swing and Mainstream jazz guitarist noted both for his recordings as a leader, and for his work as a session musician. He was also the author of instructional books that explored his approach to guitar-based harmony...
(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
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
(1910–1953), a Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist recorded with his Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and active in one form or another until 1948....
with violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
(1908–1997), a French jazz violinist. Reinhardt was an influential figure in jazz and among jazz guitarists as a soloist, accompanist and composer. 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
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and was later influenced by bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
musicians such as Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
. In 1946, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
brought Django to the United States for a series of concerts.
Jazz guitar reached a watershed with the development of amplification using a magnetic pickup and amplifier. With its amplifier, an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
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-note melodies would be inaudible. One of the very first jazz guitarists to experiment with the electric guitar was Eddie Durham
Eddie Durham
Eddie Durham was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer and musical arranger of the swing music medium born in San Marcos, Texas, probably best known for his work with musicians like Cab Calloway, Willie Bryant, Andy Kirk, Glenn Miller, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, among others...
(1906–1987) who was playing one as early as 1938. Durham showed the instrument to Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
(1916–1942) in 1937 and to Floyd Smith
Floyd Smith
Ronald Floyd Smith was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres and who coached for 4 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres...
. 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
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
after an audition on August 16, 1939. Christian was influenced by the records of Django Reinhardt, learning some of his solos note-for-note.
1940s
The 1940s saw jazz guitarists become firmly established as soloists in their own right as well as accompanists. Playing with Nat King ColeNat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
brought Oscar Moore
Oscar Moore
Oscar Moore was an American swing jazz guitarist.Moore was an integral part of the Nat King Cole Trio during 1937–1947, appearing on virtually all of Cole's records during the period. A superb and influential guitarist, Moore was himself influenced by Charlie Christian...
(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 nearly a decade. Moore also played with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
. Bill DeArango
Bill DeArango
Bill DeArango was an American jazz guitarist. Jason Ankeny of Allmusic called him "Arguably the most innovative and technically accomplished guitarist to emerge during the bebop era"....
(1921–2005) played guitar with musicians of the caliber of Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
. Billy Bauer
Billy Bauer
Billy Bauer was an American cool jazz guitarist.-Life:Bauer was born in New York City. He played banjo as a child before switching to guitar...
(1915–2005) was a member of Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
's first Herd and also played with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
. Bauer was at the forefront of bringing the guitar into bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, playing with Lennie Tristano
Lennie Tristano
Leonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
and later Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
.
1950s and 1960s
Herb Ellis
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a...
' accomplished technique and elegant lines reached a wide public through the recordings of Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
's trio. During the same time period, Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
's bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
virtuoso playing did much to make up the ground between the guitar and the other "frontline" instruments such as saxophone and trumpet. Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
(1931-) did recordings in the 1950s with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
and led his own groups.Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
(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, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
style guitar, use of varied rhythms, fingered harmonics, modal jazz
Modal jazz
Modal jazz is jazz that uses musical modes rather than chord progressions as a harmonic framework. Originating in the late 1950s and 1960s, modal jazz is characterized by Miles Davis's "Milestones" Kind of Blue and John Coltrane's classic quartet from 1960–64. Other important performers include...
harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
,an intimate knowledge of inversions and tritone substitutions, and a great understanding of bebop. Charlie Byrd
Charlie Byrd
Charlie Lee Byrd was a famous and versatile American guitarist born in Suffolk, Virginia. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the famous gypsy guitarist. Byrd became the American guitarist who best understood and played Brazilian music, especially the Bossa Nova genre...
(1925–1999) did nylon-string guitar recordings with saxophone player Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
which helped popularize Brazilian bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
and samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
music in North America.
Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
is a masterful melodic player, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
who did his best work in duos with Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
and others. Hall has a melody-based, motivic approach to improvisation. Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
was a self-taught guitarist who used his right thumb rather than a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
(pick) to produce his unique sound in his late-1950s and 1960s hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
recordings. Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
pioneered solo guitar with chordal substitutions in his duos with Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
.
George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
(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
Organ trio
An organ trio, in a jazz context, is a group of three jazz musicians, typically consisting of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet...
recordings with organist Jack MacDuff. Grant Green
Grant Green
Grant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....
's funky 1970s organ trio
Organ trio
An organ trio, in a jazz context, is a group of three jazz musicians, typically consisting of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet...
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
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
guitarist Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
(1943-) was among the first to combine the sound and energy of rock with jazz lines in the late 1960s.
1970s and 1980s
John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
pioneered jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. John Abercrombie has recorded with Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette and the Brecker Brothers. He also often explores the parameters of jazz fusion and post bop. Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
is a Missouri-based guitarist and leader of his own band, the Pat Metheny Group
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist and bandleader Pat Metheny, composer, keyboardist and pianist Lyle Mays , and bassist and producer Steve Rodby...
with Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
is a fusion virtuoso noted for his fluid, chromatic, lines and for his distinctive legato
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
guitar technique. Holdsworth's influence can be felt outside of jazz, in heavy rock players such as Edward Van Halen, Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.He, along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström were rated #35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all-time.-Musical career:Under the name...
, and Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
. Ted Greene
Ted Greene
Theodore "Ted" Greene was an American fingerstyle jazz guitarist, music columnist, and music educator active in Encino, California.-Early Days:...
, a solo guitar performer and music educator influenced LA guitarists including Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
and Steve Lukather
Steve Lukather
Steve "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Lukather has played with many artists, released several solo albums, and worked as a composer, arranger, and session guitarist on more than 1,500 albums...
with his chord melody work.
Mike Stern
Mike Stern
Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...
, who came to prominence with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
during the 1980s, has a unique take on fusing blues rock guitar with be-bop lines in extended improvisations. Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
introduced folk and bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
into jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, use of intervals rather than single lines, combining harmonics and fretted notes. John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
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
Stanley Jordan is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and pianist, best known for his development of the tapping technique for the guitar....
is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist, best known for his development of the touch technique for playing guitar.
John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli, Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others...
is a jazz guitarist, singer, songwriter who scat sings in unison with his guitar line.
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Kurt Rosenwinkel is an American jazz guitarist and keyboardist who came to prominence in the 1990s.-Biography:He attended the Berklee School of Music for two and a half years before leaving in his junior year to tour with Gary Burton, the dean of the school at the time...
is known for his distinct sound and style of improvisation that is influenced by diverse artists.
Royce Campbell
Royce Campbell
Royce Campbell is a jazz guitarist.Royce Campbell was born in Seymour, Indiana, in 1952. The son of a career navy man, Campbell grew up in various cities around the U.S. and abroad, including Asia, Europe, and the West Indies...
, who toured with composer Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
for 19 years, is featured on dozens of recordings, both as a leader and as a sideman. Drawing on a range of influences from Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
to Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
, Campbell has been noted for his tone and melodic feel.
Michael Bocian jazz and classical guitarist, author of "25 Etudes For Contemporary Guitar", leader on more than 15 cd's. Played with Dewey Redman, Joe Lovano, Rashid Ali , Richie Beirach, and many more. Originally from Cleveland Ohio has resided in New York for the last 36 years