Jazz guitar
The term jazz guitar describes the role of the guitar in jazz, in particular incurred during the course of jazz history specific game and grip techniques. The use of jazz chords and the chord - melody playing, be harmonized with the tunes with jazz harmony are typical.
- 4.1 Selection of articles on jazz and fusion albums and jazz guitarist
- 5.1 Textbooks
The beginnings of Jazz Guitar / The instrument and its types
The history of jazz guitar began at the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States with different styles of music that were developed by the descendants of Africans who had been kidnapped in previous centuries by white settlers into slavery.
In the African-American folk music - Field hollers, work songs, spirituals, gospel music, and blues - the guitar was initially used only as a purely acoustic instrument of singers, soloists and in small ensembles as an accompanying instrument for vocal. In larger music groups, the guitar was to the 1920s a marginal phenomenon - due to their low compared to piano and horns volume it was largely determined on the role as a rhythm section for scoring combos and orchestras accompanying instrument. This changed after the mid- 1930s with the newly developed electrical amplification of guitars. Due to the volume increase obtained in the guitar since then can be used in loud music groups as the melody and solo instrument and has often replaced the hitherto usual in jazz banjo. Staff to be used as a pure instrument, the guitar not only won the Jazz in popularity and importance.
Guitars in the style similar to the form of construction of stringed instruments hollowbody construction - archtops with hollow body ( Hollow Body), with or without pickup - are up to the present in traditionally oriented jazz guitarists particularly widespread and are therefore often referred to as " jazz guitar " means. They often have a cutaway to facilitate the game above the 14th Federal
The historical development of the guitar as a jazz instrument
The Guitar in early jazz
Well-known guitarists of the early Country Blues were Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson with single-note playing in blues. Musicians like Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller have transferred the ragtime on the guitar.
In New Orleans jazz the instrument from 1920 surfaced with the Jazz -O- Maniacs, which worked from 1927 with Louis Armstrong: multi-instrumentalist Lonnie Johnson, played one of the first single-note melody lines on the guitar in jazz orchestras. Another native of New Orleans rhythm guitarist and banjo player Johnny St. Cyr, who was among others played with Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Armstrong. Lonnie Johnson, who emerged from the beginning as a soloist, has mainly influenced Eddie Long, the main guitarist of the Chicago - style. From St. Cyr is again Eddie Condon coined chord musicians and representatives of Dixieland and Chicago - style scene in New York. In contrast, comes Elmer Snowden from Harlem Banjo in his game tradition more on the back than on the ragtime jazz from New Orleans.
The guitar in big band and swing era
Is the name of Freddie Green in the guitar as part of the rhythm section in the big bands of the swing; this impressed with his elastic game as an elementary part of the rhythm section, the sound of the Basie band; Green is considered the " outstanding representatives of the rhythmic chord play " ( Berendt / Huisman ). In order to make it audible in a big band rhythm guitar, the development of instruments was with voluminöserem corpus for the purpose of volume gain. Exemplary models are the Gibson L -5 ( 1924 ), Gibson Super 400 or Epiphone Emperor.
The development of electric shock amplifiable Guitar ( " Guitar " ) in the United States since the mid- 1920s, and their significance for the evolution of the guitar as a melody instrument in jazz of the 1930s and 40s. Instrument models: Rickenbacker Spanish - Electric ( 1935), Gibson ES -150 ( 1936). Already in 1935, played Eddie Durham (then guitarist and trombone with Jimmie Lunceford ) a first electric guitar solo: Hittin ' the Bottle. He plays the melody largely on a string (single string). By 1937 started the " emancipation of the guitar " by their rhythm function. To enforce the electric guitar as an equal melodic instrument makes itself particularly from 1939 Charlie Christian with Benny Goodman earned. They will play the solos of the fan -oriented melodic lines. Furthermore, they include musicians such as George Barnes, Leonard goods and to call in Europe Eddy Christiani.
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt and other guitarists of the Hot Club de France as Baro Ferret came from the banjo and played since the early 1930s, first by the Italian luthier Mario Maccaferri for Henri Selmer designed acoustic guitars, most of which were reinforced with an internal resonator ( Reinhardt, however, never played a guitar with resonator). Reinhardt processed among other influences from flamenco and Russian folklore, jazz he refers to Eddie Lang.
Bebop, cool jazz and guitar
In particular, Charlie Christian, who died in 1942 at age 25 and is involved in the sessions at Minton 's Playhouse in the development of bebop may be referred to as being essential for the subsequent generation of guitarists. The 1950s and 1960s jazz are far more influenced by the guitar than the previous period, which is not least due to the new opportunities arising from the technical development of electric guitars.
The electric guitar as a full band instrument allows the use of a combined rhythm and melody instrument in smaller ensembles ( trios, quartets ) of bebop, with Nat Cole the guitarist Oscar Moore, also with Art Tatum, the guitarist Tiny Grimes and later Everett Barksdale. Important jazz guitarists of this period are initially Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis ( the last two in the trio of Oscar Peterson, as well as a band leader ), Grant Green, Joe Pass, Jimmy Raney, and George Benson. In Germany Coco Schumann and Johannes Rediske be mentioned.
In Cool Jazz, the guitar has almost no function as a rhythm guitar: can be mentioned is first Billy Bauer ( Tristano - school), who with Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz ( Duo: "Rebecca" ) worked as well as Jimmy Raney, Attila Zoller and Jim Hall. With its concentrated, lyrical game beyond the block chords and the clear, warm sound Halls importance for the development of the guitar in jazz with none other guitarists of his generation is comparable.
About the Latin Jazz are also acoustic guitarists such as Charlie Byrd, Laurindo Almeida, Oscar Castro- Neves and João Bosco later, Egberto Gismonti or Badi Assad influential.
Free Jazz, Fusion and the further development
The 1960s were characterized primarily by his hand, new standard-setting Wes Montgomery. In the late 1960s, coined by purist jazz sound ideals became increasingly detached from the jazz-rock, this meant a radical change for the jazz guitar. While the style of Wes Montgomery was further refined, for example by Pat Martino, Joe Pass and George Benson, develop guitarists like Attila Zoller since the early 1960s and later Rudolf Dašek a free musical language. The possibilities in the free jazz is by guitarist Sonny Sharrock, who has the possibilities of feedback already appropriated and whose first aggressive tone which includes noise and is affected by the Überblaseffekten of saxophonist John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler, and in Europe developed primarily by Derek Bailey. Both have transferred from the piano to the guitar, the cluster technique.
In addition, influenced by the rock music guitarist John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell were innovative for the jazz guitar in the 1970s. Inform the style for electric guitar in fusion and jazz-rock was initially John McLaughlin, listening to the Miles Davis albums In a Silent Way 1968 Bitches Brew 1969 A Tribute to Jack Johnson in 1970 and his since the late 1960s solo albums such as extrapolation ( 1969) or My Goal 's Beyond ( 1970). In its various projects such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti, he was one of the seminal figures of fusion music. To mention a pioneer here is also Volker Kriegel Dave Pike Set and with his group spectrum and Jerry Hahn. Guitarists like Terje Rypdal, Allan Holdsworth, Christy Doran, Pat Metheny, Danny Toan or Al DiMeola, but also Claude Barthelemy, Philip Catherine and Toto Blanke take this thread to continue. In addition in the acoustic range Ralph Towner especially with his solo productions and on the twelve string guitar, but also James Emery.
Inform the style is also the guitarist John Abercrombie with his album Timeless ( 1974) with Jan Hammer and his formation Gateway ( 1975) with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. More influenced by the fusion movement jazz guitarists are from the late 1970s, especially Mike Stern and John Scofield with Miles Davis and later in their solo projects, where they recorded their music influences from world music and electronic music. Mention should also be Leni Stern, Susan Weinert, Marc Ducret, Michael Sagmeister and John Schroeder.
In the presence of an enormous variety of styles in music and instrument types is observed. Bill Frisell represents the stylistic variety in his work. Increasingly, the clear distinction from other genres is difficult ( as examples may be mentioned here James " Blood" Ulmer, Frank Zappa, Vernon Reid, Arto Lindsay, Fred Frith and Elliott Sharp).
Playing techniques
Playing techniques have been developed for solo play, some of which differ from those of the classical guitar. Here are the fingerpicking, Wes Montgomery thumb technique, playing with a plectrum and the special fingering technique of Django Reinhardt mentioned.
Disco Graphical selection (reviewed albums)
- Joe 's Blues with Joe Pass, Herb Ellis (1968 )
- Guitar Genius in Japan with Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Attila Zoller ( 1970)
- The Guitar Album: Historic Town Hall Concert with George Barnes, Joe Beck, Charlie Byrd, Tiny Grimes, John McLaughlin, Bucky Pizzarelli and Chuck Wayne (1971 )
Selection of articles on jazz and fusion albums and jazz guitarist
- Bitches Brew - Miles Davis with John McLaughlin
- The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark - Grant Green
- Elegant Gypsy - Al Di Meola
- Friday Night in San Francisco - Paco de Lucía, John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola
- Getz / Gilberto - Stan Getz / João Gilberto
- Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
- Idle Moments - Grant Green
- In a Silent Way - Miles Davis with John McLaughlin
- The Individualism of Gil Evans - Gil Evans with Kenny Burrell
- Move! - Red Norvo with Tal Farlow
- Out of the Cool - Gil Evans with Ray Crawford
- Pangaea - Miles Davis with Reggie Lucas, Pete Cosey
- Pêche à la Mouche: The Great Blue Star Sessions 1947/1953 - Django Reinhardt
- The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop - George Russell with Barry Galbraith
- Spillane - John Zorn and Bill Frisell
- Timeless - John Abercrombie
- A Tribute to Jack Johnson - Miles Davis / John McLaughlin
- Welcome - Carlos Santana / John McLaughlin
Kenny Burrell
George Benson
Pat Metheny