Jazz Guitar Players Innovate Through The Decades
In the early part of the twentieth century jazz guitar players very often used the old-time banjo. This is not the instrument necessarily thought of today in the idiom. The banjo then, as it is now, was generally used for country, bluegrass and folk music, the antithesis of cool.
Gibson came out with the first acoustic guitar in 1923 that replaced the banjo. This hollow-bodied instrument allowed the musician to play more complex chords and its tone was able to stand up to the brass, so to speak. By the 1930s, the banjo was relegated back to the country and the guitarist found a proper niche within the band.
The electric guitar was invented in the 1930s. This amplified invention was capable of being heard amongst the horns and drums. Swing, bebop, hard-bop, fusion or mellow, the guitar now had a place in the band. Over time, its presence would expand. Its players earned name recognition.
Charlie Christian was the first to record the new amplified guitar with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. This proved the exception and not the rule. It still, for the most part, played a background role; in the rhythm section. Django Reinhardt was the first to have big-name recognition. His style was too inventive to take a backseat in any orchestra.
All that changed when jazz turned to small combos. Quartets, quintets, sextets and trios replaced the big bands and jazz developed its cool reputation. In this context, the guitar was given its solo. Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel became names in their own right.
Things made another drastic leap in the 1970s with a style that fused jazz with rock. Specifically heavy metal rock, taken from the playbook of Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton. Jazz guitarists were no longer content with cool. They heated things up with ample volume, wah-wah pedals and octave splitters. Heavy metal was given a new jazzy twist. John McLaughlin was the preeminent name of this new style but others followed.
A smoother style is now the most popular. It is often fused with world music, new-age, Latin and pop genres. The sound is more commercial, less confrontational. The jazz guitar player has made a full circle. We now have a neo-traditional school that harkens back to the understated, rounded sound of Charlie Christian. Django Reinhardt is still popular for his sensuous Latin-infused compositions. The musician today can take up any style and find an audience. Even the banjo is making a comeback with numerous websites dedicated to its jazzy history and practice.
jazz guitar players
Gibson came out with the first acoustic guitar in 1923 that replaced the banjo. This hollow-bodied instrument allowed the musician to play more complex chords and its tone was able to stand up to the brass, so to speak. By the 1930s, the banjo was relegated back to the country and the guitarist found a proper niche within the band.
The electric guitar was invented in the 1930s. This amplified invention was capable of being heard amongst the horns and drums. Swing, bebop, hard-bop, fusion or mellow, the guitar now had a place in the band. Over time, its presence would expand. Its players earned name recognition.
Charlie Christian was the first to record the new amplified guitar with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. This proved the exception and not the rule. It still, for the most part, played a background role; in the rhythm section. Django Reinhardt was the first to have big-name recognition. His style was too inventive to take a backseat in any orchestra.
All that changed when jazz turned to small combos. Quartets, quintets, sextets and trios replaced the big bands and jazz developed its cool reputation. In this context, the guitar was given its solo. Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel became names in their own right.
Things made another drastic leap in the 1970s with a style that fused jazz with rock. Specifically heavy metal rock, taken from the playbook of Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton. Jazz guitarists were no longer content with cool. They heated things up with ample volume, wah-wah pedals and octave splitters. Heavy metal was given a new jazzy twist. John McLaughlin was the preeminent name of this new style but others followed.
A smoother style is now the most popular. It is often fused with world music, new-age, Latin and pop genres. The sound is more commercial, less confrontational. The jazz guitar player has made a full circle. We now have a neo-traditional school that harkens back to the understated, rounded sound of Charlie Christian. Django Reinhardt is still popular for his sensuous Latin-infused compositions. The musician today can take up any style and find an audience. Even the banjo is making a comeback with numerous websites dedicated to its jazzy history and practice.
jazz guitar players