Jazz GUITAR poll

yeah the live Europe stuff is just insane. Wes is one of the very few guys who consistently pins the "WTF did you just hear that?" meter

if Wes has any drawbacks, it's that he's almost too good, and too fluid. it could get boring, I suppose. he never makes a mistake. he's like Bird.

Green is a much more hesitant player, which brings another aspect to it. You can hear more of the ANGUISH of life through Grant's playing. I think that's why people are attracted to him. Wes is more like an alien from another planet.

"Blue n' Boogie" on Full House is so killer. The section at the end where Wes and Johnny Griffin play back and forth off of each other is really exciting.

It is a shame that some of the SF dates that Wes did with Coltrane never got recorded. I bet those were pretty hot.

if Wes has any drawbacks, it's that he's almost too good, and too fluid. it could get boring, I suppose. he never makes a mistake. he's like Bird.

Green is a much more hesitant player, which brings another aspect to it. You can hear more of the ANGUISH of life through Grant's playing. I think that's why people are attracted to him. Wes is more like an alien from another planet.

Yes, this is why I like GG just a bit better. OTM!

It is a shame that some of the SF dates that Wes did with Coltrane never got recorded. I bet those were pretty hot.

I have had wet dreams about this for years.

I'm sure glad I voted in this one, otherwise poor Barney would have been left out in the cold.

You folks who didn't vote for Charlie Christian are flat-out fools.

hmmm, well the pollster didn't actually ask a question like "who is your favorite" or "who is best" or "most influential". Here I go then...

Most influential: Charlie Christian
Best: Wes Montgomery
My favorite: Johnny Smith
My favorite in the poll: Grant Green
Most innovative in a modern setting: James Blood Ulmer
Most technically gifted: perhaps Joe Pass

destruction terror and mayhem

When I first picked up the guitar back in 01 I bought a guitar magazine and saw this transcribed in it. Didn't take note of the tempo, learned it ultra super duper slow. Then I heard it.

And realized that uh I would never play it. I saved the transcription and I still come back to it once or twice a year to see if I'm up to speed yet, but goddamn. Also lol @ "Flight of the Bumblebee"

these poll results are weird! grant green is usually underrated

Pat Martino...

My guitar teacher told me that he was in some kind of severe accident where he completely lost his ability to play and completely re-learned. Also something about him having some weird system where he can spell words in his mind with the notes of his solos.

yeah, his story is made-for-tv-movie level fascinating.

Why does most jazz guitar SOUND so shitty? So many guys on this list either have unsatisfying and weak "clean" sounds or use obnoxious effects to cover up the flaws. Only a handful make a really satisfying sound with their instrument, either clean or with effects.

Never learned how many votes Django ended up with (still can't believe he was left off the original ballot).

Looks like 3

Bucky's appearing tonight at the Bella Luna restaurant on the Upper Westside, where he will be dueting with Jack Wilkins, who didn't even make the ballot.

man, if they were playing an hour later i'd drop by. as it is i won't be off til 9:30.

(which makes two different shows i'm missing tonight because they're playing too early. wtf new york?)

It hurts me to do so but I think I really disagree with Hurting 2 about the sound of jazz guitarists. Question: Are you comparing them to rock guitarists? (You very well may not be.) I feel that many people take rock guitar sounds, which are almost always deadened by amps, as a standard for the sound of the electric guitar. The instrument has more to offer sonically!

I wonder if you went over to that gig and sat at the bar you could catch the tail end, Jesse.

In other news another non-poll maker, Gene Bertoncini, is appearing tomorrow with strings at the Jazz Standard.

Question: Are you comparing them to rock guitarists? (You very well may not be.)

No, I'm more comparing them to the sounds of other jazz instruments. I find guitar (in the hands of most) to be one of the least-satisfying sounds in jazz -- it's usually so dynamically flat and often fails to blend properly with the band. It too often sound more like a note machine than a real instrument.

Hurting, if you are not too buried under your lawbooks you should come out one night to see some solo jazz guitar so you can be proven wrong. Although actually I think you do have a point.

Didn't notice this, so Charlie Byrd missed a well-deserved vote.

Here's a link to the Jack Wilkins gig page so you can see when he's dueting with Bucky again or with Howard Alden, or want to be ready when Jimmy Bruno comes to town.

Hm, do you find guitar much worse than keyboards or vibes?

Wow, how did I never know about Johnny Smith before?

O_o Joe Pass 0

I happen to find Joe Pass a little boring, fwiw.

although I like the duets with Herb Ellis

Johnny Smith, the guy who wrote "Walk Don't Run"? You don't hear about him much these days. However I will re-extend my offer to you, Hurting, to come out and see some jazz guitar. Jack Wilkins is playing tonight at a place called Rue 57 where you will be able to see how well he blends in with Harvie S, Billy Drummond and Harry Allen and maybe talk to him about Johnny Smith or Ted Dunbar.

You missed a good show. And the guy who books the place is way into Johnny Smith.

Sorry man so this too late.

saw

If you go to that place tonight, our friend Junior will be there along with his dad.

Putting link to Russell Malone interview here as well: http://www.justjazzguitar.com/articles/art-01-malone.php3

Don't know why I bother, but here's another invitation for you, Hurting. Come out one Monday to my neck of the woods and see my neighbor do his thing. He always has good players with him and the next two weeks he has an especially good bass player: http://www.jimhershman.com/gigs.html

Not to be a dick but I don't really think I'm going to come out to Queens to see jazz guitar, which I don't like, when I'm working the next morning.

I mean the guy is good but it's very jazz-guitary jazz guitar.

I do like some of Russell Malone's work however.

Russell himself himself has made the long, lonely trip out to Queens where he hung out and played at that very gig and then still had time to go back into the city to catch Ron Affif at the Zinc Bar. But then again he likes jazz guitar and probably didn't have to get up in the morning.

I used to dislike most jazz guitar as well, and I still don't always like to listen to recordings of it that much, but I figured that I live in a big city where there are lots of good players playing gigs in bars and restaurants with no cover, sometimes with bass and drums or singers and often even conveniently located in Manhattan so I figured I'd go out and check some of it out. If you can see Bucky Pizzarelli for the price of a beer, why not? Especially since he might bring his son John along or some other guitar player like Howard Alden is at the bar waiting to sit in. How do you know what the guitar tone of one of these guys is really like or how it fits in with a band until you have seen them live?

Meanwhile, recently discovered this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXx9vtVrR9A

(I did always like Ted's tone, but he played with his thumb and that makes a big difference)

Also been checking him out on Gil Evans - Svengali

(great solo on Thoroughbred)

You forgot to post this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxmnpAixnDg

High school guitar-class-mate of mine playing free at BAM:
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2747&ref=nf

(Psst. If there is anybody reading this thread interested in actually seeing a real live Jazz GUITARist, instead of wondering why they all are so bad and hated, Gene Bertoncini will be playing tomorrow as part of the Jazz Brunch at the North Square off Washington Square Park, where they always seem to have good guitarists, and at Smalls on Monday.

You could also go this or any Sunday evening to Walker's to see Peter Leitch play as part of a duet, usually with a top of the line bass player.

Or you could wait until Tuesday and go to Jack Wilkins's regular gig that I mentioned upthread or you could stay home and... ah, never mind)

i was a big jazz guitar nerd in high school and i still will defend pat metheny's playing. ignoring everything that is PMG, i put on some of his albums i love recently (80/81, the holland/haynes trio, even the 2o00-era Trio stuff like the Trio Live album) and every single phrase came right back to me. so distincive