joe pass, why is he the greatest guitarist

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Dec 03 - 04:30 PM

Farnk: I was being corrupted by pervious posters who included guitarist from other styles of music..:-) Actually, the thread title does not limit itself to jazz guitarists... I suppose someone could have included Andres Segovia.

Or Duane Eddy. :-)


"Greatest" is very much a subjective term. I don't respond to single string melodies on guitar (generally speaking) as much as I do to guitarists who use chords generously. (Tal Farlow being an obvious exception for me.) Someone like George Van Epps, whose beautiful use of chords and fingerpicking has always touched me comes from a really old jazz tradition, going back to his father Fred Van Epps, who was considered the greatest of all plectrum bano players. Howard Alden has taken over George's reigns, carrying on the finger-picked style on a seven string guitar... first recording with Van Epps, and now on his own.
This thread made me hungry, so I just put on an album of guitar duets with Alden and Van Epps... mighty tasty stuff..

Jerry

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 27 Dec 03 - 04:12 PM

I forgot Herb Ellis, Pat Martino, Pat Donahue,Oscar Moore, Emily Remler, GAbor Szabo, Alan Holdsworth was who I was thinking of, Teddy Bunn, Al Casey (who played with Fats Waller), and as Jerry mentions,
Van Epps and

Laureindo who I would consider less a jazz guitarist and more of a classic bossa player and classic guitarist.
Oscar Castro Neves who played with Brazil 66 might be overlooked in this department as well.

Joe Pass is the ultimate jazz guitarist and unless you like jazz a lot, what he does could be missed. His sense of harmony is impeccable.

Charlie Christian was not the first to use amplification but one of most innovative with the Benny Goodman sextet.

George Benson and Phil Upchurch
are swinging players.

Joe Pass might be considered to be at the apex of inventive improvisations and harmonic lines.

There is no number one since all of them have something unique to contribute and that is why they are well-known in the guitar world.

Guest, being 80 means you have perspective and have probably
heard more than most others on this thread.

As to the other styles of guitar playing, Doc is well-known but there are others who are less-known who are playing well today in this style.

The question arises as to what this has to do with a folk thread.
Most of what is called folk music today owes a lot to the sophisticated development of jazz. Jazz in a sense is a kind of
folk music that has a tradition-based history and is often handed down from player to player not unlike how folk players learn.

Jazz improvisation has a strong connection to folk music and has influenced folk performers indirectly. Many of the best pickers such as Doc Watson are improvisers having acquired a vocabulary of phrases and patterns over the years that adapt to different tunes much like a jazz musician.

Listening to folk or jazz players is subjective in that some are preferred over others for various reasons. But the important thing is to keep an open mind, listen for intent and when you learn to
play some jazz guitar, believe me, your appreciation for the skill of the jazz guitarist increases proportionately.

Frank Hamilton (who loves all kinds of guitar playing)

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Dec 03 - 02:32 PM

Propper Gator:

In no particular order, here are some that come to mind... not all jazz. just favorites:

For Jazz:

Charlie Christian has to be number one
Tal Farlow always amazed me
Kenny Burrel... tasty if not unusually inovative
George Van Epps... can never get enough of his 7 string guitar
Jimmy Smith
Laurindo Almeida
Ron Eschete... a wonderful counterpoint to Gene Harris's funky, bluesy piano

Other guitarists I really enjoy:

Mark Knopfler
Jimmie Hendrix... don't listen to him a lot but I recognize his genius
Les Paul has to be on any list of a top ten... especially for being innovative and influential
Dave Edmunds
Junior Brown, for country... a truly amazing guitarist

For blues:

Lightnin' Hopkins
John Lee Hooker
Stevie Ray Vaughn
And of course, Leadbelly

For folk:

Doc Watson
and Doc Watson

Plus most of the ones listed above..

I personally didn't hear much that moved me in Joe Pass, although he's certainly a fine and influential guitarist.

Jerry

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Dec 03 - 02:26 PM

Navigator

Thanks Frank, you said it better than I. My perspective is different
than most "Mudcatters" since I'm 80 years old.

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: GUEST,Martin Gibsonj
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 06:27 PM

I don't know how anyone could listen to that stuff.

Isn't there a jazz forum somewhere?

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 06:24 PM

One of the top jazz guitarists. The only one Oscar Petersen would play with.

There is Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel,Wes Montgomery, Django, Eddie Lang,, Bola Sete (though he played Brazilian), Oscar Aleman, Lenny Breaux, Mundell Lowe, Grant Green, Barry Galbraith, Howard Aldin,
Larry Coryell, and more.

and studio types such as George Barnes, Howard Roberts, Tommy Tedesco, Les Paul,Chet Atkins, Merle Travis,Carl Kress and Dick McDonough,

and contemporary stylists such as Pat Metheny and Alan (?) from England who plays Carvel guitars,

And in a special category, Ted Greene,

and Gypsy jazz, Rosenberg, and others today......

But the aforementioned jazz guitarists including Pass were the influential jazz players on this instrument.

He is one of the greatest because he could swing, had unusual harmonic sense, was a clean, fast player and could keep up with Oscar Petersen, (not a small feat). His reharmonization of jazz
tunes is well-respected.

There are undoubtably many guitarists today who are not so well known
but equally spectacular.

Frank

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: PoppaGator
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 05:31 PM

OK, Jerry, who are your top ten?

Some of my faves, in no particular order, off the top of my head:

Snooks Eaglin
Django Rhinehardt (sp?)
Jerry Garcia
Buddy Guy
John Fahey
Jimi Hendrix
Robbie Robertson
Charley Christian
Ry Cooder
Stevie Ray Vaughn

that's 10...

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 05:25 PM

On what basis? I'd probably put him 11th..

Subject: RE: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: Ed.
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 04:01 PM

No

Subject: joe pass, why is he the greatest
From: GUEST,navigator
Date: 26 Dec 03 - 03:48 PM

I believe Joe pass was the greatest guitar virtuoso who ever lived.
Do yo agree?