# Jazz guitarists to check out



## jjjsssxxx (Sep 8, 2007)

I've never been a jazz guy.
But I quit my job to go back to school and get a music degree. All their guitar stuff is jazz based and its pretty new to me. 
Other than Les Paul, Charlie Cristian, and Django, who are some players that a guy new to jazz should listen to? Particulaly some guys that I could listen to and be able to transcribe a solo, since I have to do 2 transcriptions every semester.


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## OzzyC (Sep 8, 2007)

George Van Eps
Bucky and John Pizzareli 
(All of which are long-time 7 players.)


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## jjjsssxxx (Sep 8, 2007)

cool thanks
is their stuff under their names or are they part of a band?


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## OzzyC (Sep 8, 2007)

Denied by Christ said:


> cool thanks
> is their stuff under their names or are they part of a band?


AFAIK, they've always gone by name, but I don't know _too_ much about any of them, really.


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## DDDorian (Sep 8, 2007)

Wes Montgomery is a definite must, I reccommend _The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery_ and the live album _Smokin' At The Half Note_. Picking up a fake book would also be a good idea; the best one for your purposes would probably be the Hal Leonard-published "The Real Book", check it out


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 9, 2007)

DDDorian said:


> Wes Montgomery is a definite must, I reccommend _The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery_ and the live album _Smokin' At The Half Note_. Picking up a fake book would also be a good idea; the best one for your purposes would probably be the Hal Leonard-published "The Real Book", check it out



+100000

Also check out Joe Pass, Pat Martino and Kenny Burrell.


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## Drew (Sep 10, 2007)

I LOVE Kenny Burrell. 

For more contemporary guys, John Scofield and Mike Stern are worth a listen.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 10, 2007)

Drew said:


> I LOVE Kenny Burrell.
> 
> For more contemporary guys, John Scofield and Mike Stern are worth a listen.



+10000 for both those guys. Try Emily Remler as well.


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## kung_fu (Sep 10, 2007)

Denied by Christ said:


> Particulaly some guys that I could listen to and be able to transcribe a solo, since I have to do 2 transcriptions every semester.



i was going to suggest allan holdsworth but... . Seriously though, check him out. A couple of greats that are amazing and shouldn't be too difficult to transcribe are Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall. All of the guitarists mentioned so far are excellent as well.

Do the transcriptions have to be of guitar players? If not, there are loads of other jazz instrumentallists that are loads of fun to play on guitar as well. Most of my inspiration these days comes from pianists and saxophonists ( Mcoy Tyner + John Coltrane especially )


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## garcia3441 (Sep 10, 2007)

Larry Coryell


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## msherman (Sep 11, 2007)

My good friend, Frank Varela. 

Lenny White & larry Coryell did guest spots on his last record.
Check out his solo about 3:45 into the tune.



And Frank playing bass and guitar at the same time. The bass is the Sherman "Floor model"  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOnpldcb2aQ


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## josh821 (Sep 12, 2007)

Hah, that's a ballsy way to make a career change. Good luck.

Charlie Hunter does some really cool stuff and hasn't been mentioned yet, although he'd be difficult to transcribe since he plays chords and bass lines while soloing. Honestly the good jazz guitarists I can think of are ridiculous to transcribe because they're either completely unorthodox sounding (Allan Holdsworth) or they play multiple parts at once.

Django is probably one of your best bets for good jazz that's transcribable (if that's a word) without tearing your hair out. Hmm, come to think of it, no one mentioned Birelli Lagrene either, he's amazing.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 14, 2007)

Jimmy Bruno


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## Alex-D33 (Sep 14, 2007)

George Benson 
John Stowell 
Scott Henderson
Bill Frisel


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## jjjsssxxx (Sep 25, 2007)

josh821 said:


> Hah, that's a ballsy way to make a career change. Good luck.



Yeah. I been working jobs I hate for the last seven years and trying to be a musician when I have time. So I said fuck it. You only live once.

Thanks for all the recommendations everybody.


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## playstopause (Sep 25, 2007)

Jazz is a pretty vast term. There is so many sub-categories...

I'd say Al Dimeola, Pat Metheny.


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 25, 2007)

kung_fu said:


> Do the transcriptions have to be of guitar players? If not, there are loads of other jazz instrumentallists that are loads of fun to play on guitar as well. Most of my inspiration these days comes from pianists and saxophonists ( Mcoy Tyner + John Coltrane especially )





My jazz guitar influences are mostly screaming fusion guys like old school McLaughlin, DiMeola, and Holdsworth.

When it comes to more 'straightahead' jazz influences, it's all about the horns. Coltrane when I need the intensity, and Miles when I want to hear someone use space effectively. Somehow, more traditional jazz guitar just doesn't do that much for me. A little too connected to '50s cool jazz, I think. I prefer things a little more burning and robust. Wes Montgomery is an exception, just because his playing is so earthy and not overthought like so many guitarists.

And for chording and accompaniment, McCoy Tyner is where it's at. I've been having some fun trying to pick out the head of the tune "Ebony Queen" on my own without any charts or study. He's a little easier to get at for guitarists, since he seems to rely a lot on "1-4-7" suspended chord forms that translate well to guitar. Trying to dig into Chick Corea or Herbie Hancock on the guitar are much less comfortable, although I love the way Corea builds chord progressions--there's usually an implied melody or a common note to all the chords.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 26, 2007)

Emily Remler...awesome player. This video has some really nice chord voicings you could steal.


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 26, 2007)

Lots of the ol' "blues 9th" chord in that one.  Love her passing chords.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 26, 2007)

jacksonplayer said:


> Lots of the ol' "blues 9th" chord in that one.  Love her passing chords.



 I know what I'll be practicing tonight!


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## jjjsssxxx (Sep 27, 2007)

Not bad...


for a girl.

Just kidding. 
I think the reason I never really got into jazz guitar is because a lot of it seems to just meander around and not really make much of a statement. Obviously there are some jazz players out there who can write good melodies and songs that go somewhere. But I think there are more guys who can play than there are who have something to say. Does that make any sense?


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## bostjan (Sep 27, 2007)

Well, they have something to say, but not everyone will pick up what they are throwing down, and that's the whole thing about jazz, dig?

I think Eddie Lang would be an older jazz guy that would be worth checking out if you aren't liking the trippy stuff.

Norman Brown is a more laid-back modern jazz guitarist with very tasty melodies, but don't expect him to knock your socks off right away.

Al DiMeola runs the gamut, so he's another place to start, if you find the others boring.

Others I prefer (already mentioned):
Pat Metheny 
Jimmy Rosenberg
Alan Holdsworth
George Benson
Wes Montgomerey
Stanley Jordan
Pat Martino
Bireli Lagrene
Kenny Burrell
Frank Gambale
Charlie Byrd
John Scoffield
Joe Pass
John McLaughlin
Tal Farlow
Earl Klugh
Bill Frisell
Barney Kessel
Lenny Breau
Mike Stern
George Van Eps
Charlie Hunter
Carl Kress
[voice trails off...]


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 27, 2007)

Denied by Christ said:


> I think the reason I never really got into jazz guitar is because a lot of it seems to just meander around and not really make much of a statement.



It's funny, I've been going the opposite way. Lately I've been listening almost exclusively to '60s hard bop and the funkier aspects of '70s fusion (George Duke, Flora Purim, Herbie Hancock, etc.), and it's tough to go back and listen to most rock and metal because it all seems so structured and predictable.

Interestingly, you don't hear that many jazz guitarists who are willing to just go crazy. What is it about guitarists that we need our little structured songs and neat resolutions? That's one thing I love about guys like Sonny Sharrock and James Blood Ulmer--they're willing to step out on that ledge and risk playing a mistake or two.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 27, 2007)

jacksonplayer said:


> It's funny, I've been going the opposite way. Lately I've been listening almost exclusively to '60s hard bop and the funkier aspects of '70s fusion (George Duke, Flora Purim, Herbie Hancock, etc.), and it's tough to go back and listen to most rock and metal because it all seems so structured and predictable.
> 
> Interestingly, you don't hear that many jazz guitarists who are willing to just go crazy. What is it about guitarists that we need our little structured songs and neat resolutions? That's one thing I love about guys like Sonny Sharrock and James Blood Ulmer--they're willing to step out on that ledge and risk playing a mistake or two.



 We need more of that sort of spirit in metal. It's wierd how rock was originally heavily improvisational, and yet now improvisation's pretty much a lost art amongst rock/metal musicians.


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 27, 2007)

distressed_romeo said:


> We need more of that sort of spirit in metal. It's wierd how rock was originally heavily improvisational, and yet now improvisation's pretty much a lost art amongst rock/metal musicians.



I agree about the need for "free metal", since that's basically what I'm trying to cook up in the laboratory nowadays. But I don't think that rock has ever been very free. It's always been primarily a song-oriented form with structures inherited from country and blues and little space for true improvisation, other than the occasional solo. There was a period in the late '60s and early '70s when that was starting to change, with the psychedelic and jam-oriented movements, but I think fusion stole their thunder and redirected the energies of many of those musicians.

It's difficult to bridge the mindsets. In rock, musicians are always telling themselves to "play for the song." In post-bop jazz, the playing IS the song.

There are experimental bands today like Tortoise that are doing some interesting quasi-improvisational things, but I'm not as up on that stuff as I probably should be. There's only so many hours in the day to absorb new musical influences. 

Of course, part of my point was that even jazz guitarists are often stuck in a box. How many guitarists would have the balls to do something like Coltrane's "Ascension"? I guess Metheny did with "Song X", but I can't think of too many more examples off the top of my head. Not strictly atonal, but "free".


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