Guitar Songbook
Jazz Guitar Players And Their Music – An Historical Overview by Steven Herron
The development of the jazz guitar and jazz guitar music has been marked by a long string of technical and stylistic innovators! In the post World War I era there appeared the revolutionary solo voice of Lonnie Johnson, one of the largely unheralded guitar players of the twentieth century who would go on to further achievement playing the Blues. His one time recording buddy, Eddie Lang, performing under the pseudonym Blind Willie Dunn, advanced the cause of chordal accompaniment as well as single note improvised soloing and is credited with bringing the guitar forward as a legitimate musical instrument. Following in the twenties are the notable soloing and chord melody accomplishments of George Van Eps, Dick McDonough, Carl Kress, and Nick Lucas. The thirties produced the wild gypsy guitar genius Django Reinhardt – a virtuoso whose exciting flights of improvised solos, octaves, and aggressive chording would also have far reaching influence.
The advent of the first commercially viable amplified guitar in 1936 by Gibson Guitar Company led the way for another genius and the acknowledged forefather of modern jazz guitar music, Charlie Christian. Quickly realizing the expanded soloing potential of the electric guitar, Christian sprung extremely sophisticated horn-like lines on his stunned contemporaries while playing in the Benny goodman band. Equally important, he was instrumental in the development of bebop in the forties via his participation in after hours jam sessions at Minton’s in Harlem. Like a shooting star, his talent blazed for a brief period between 1939 and 1942 until he died at the tender age of 25. The number of guitarists who fell under Christian’s guitaristic influence is countless and still multiplying with Johnny Smith, Joe Pass, Oscar Moore, Barney Kessel, George Barnes, Les Paul, Tal Farlow, and Herb Ellis being only some of the most prominent.
The next sylistic leap occurred in the late fifties when rumors of a fantastic new jazz guitarist, performing in obscurity in Indianapolis, made their way east. Wes Montgomery, using his thumb rather than a guitar pick, was absolutely dazzling in his speed, dexterity, and creativity! He knew the Charlie Christian songbook inside and out, but added his own extraordinary octave technique and bop blues sensibility to a style that became the benchmark for virtually all other jazz guitarists. Tired of playing longs hours for short pay in the jazz clubs, Montgomery took a turn towards easy listening arrangements of pop tunes in the mid-sixties, to the consternation of jazz purists, and died too young at the age of 44 in 1968.
Concurrent with Montgomery’s rise in the sixties was the sighting of yet another young man gobbling up acres of guitar fingerboard. Combining the best of Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, George Benson was literally playing his way out of R&B bands on his way to becoming even bigger and more popular than his predecessors. With superior chops and the longevity to let them develop and mature, he is arguably the most famous jazz guitarist of all time as well as one of the greatest and continues to dazzle guitarists and audiences alike with his incredible guitar playing!
About the Author
Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps people succeed at becoming better guitar players. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous, unique selection of jazz guitar tab as well as guitar books and instructional jazz guitar DVDs.
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