Jazz Guitar Life Network
Influential Albums, pt II
Let's jump right back into talking about some albums that have been important to me as both a jazz performer and listener.
4. Michael Brecker (Pat Metheny on guitar): Time is of the Essence
The organ/guitar combination has always been one of my favorites (possibly because I haven't had the pleasure of actually participating in one of these yet), and here we find a sort of modern take on it that really works. The originals here really do capture at once the spirit of contemporary jazz and old school organ jazz at the same time. It's really quite remarkable what organist Larry Goldings brings to the table on the B3, but of course my interest is really in Pat Metheny's playing!
Pat can play some pretty far out, busy stuff. But he is also extremely capable of playing tastefully melodic as he does here, and it sounds amazing. Starting out with guns blazing on "Arc of the Pendulum," Metheny plays in a style that is obviously from his bag of tricks but modified to fit the format. And, as the title of the album implies, the groove is off the charts!
5. Joe Pass: Virtuoso Series
I'm saying series here because I own these in a hodgepodge fashion on various "best of" collections, as opposed to the actual Virtuoso album itself. What I'm really talking about is the barely amplified, acoustic archtop solo guitar work from that album on standards such as "How High the Moon" and "Summertime." Need I really say more- nobody really does solo guitar like Pass did, and he is the super high standard I try to aim for when I work on solo guitar myself.
Many guitar players over the years have mastered the art of solo guitar but yet fail to capture the awesome power of Pass' playing. While he certainly worked out many bits, his playing, even the shout chorus type stuff, sounds totally improvised out of thin air.
6. Joe Pass: "The Song Is You" YouTube video
This isn't an album but a video of Pass on an old television program (this was in his days as a West Coast cat, probably not long after he kicked his drug habit). This isn't an album, yet stumbling upon this helped reignite my interest in jazz guitar after a few years in which I was pursuing other education. Look up this thing and watch him absolutely shred this song at a fast tempo, on a freakin' Fender Jaguar guitar no less! Important lessons here: Yes, tone is important.... but if your feel and what your actually playing is hot, than you'll sound good no matter what your tone is!
7. Grant Green: The Complete Sessions with Sonny Clark
Could this be the greatest Grant Green reissue? Perhaps. Some people consider Idle Moments the best of Green but I would place this at the top. He is with sympathetic company in Clark, another bebop oriented musician playing hard bop music with Blue Note. This one has a bit of everything: standards, jazz compositions (including a very interesting take on Oleo) and a scorching, fire belching rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So," a minor blues with a jazz turnaround. Grant isn't really the kind of guy who took ridiculously long solos, but on this cut everyone is digging Grant's playing so much that they keep forcing him to take chorus after chorus! You can hear whoops and other vocalizations in the background as the musicians react to Grant's licks.
4. Michael Brecker (Pat Metheny on guitar): Time is of the Essence
The organ/guitar combination has always been one of my favorites (possibly because I haven't had the pleasure of actually participating in one of these yet), and here we find a sort of modern take on it that really works. The originals here really do capture at once the spirit of contemporary jazz and old school organ jazz at the same time. It's really quite remarkable what organist Larry Goldings brings to the table on the B3, but of course my interest is really in Pat Metheny's playing!
Pat can play some pretty far out, busy stuff. But he is also extremely capable of playing tastefully melodic as he does here, and it sounds amazing. Starting out with guns blazing on "Arc of the Pendulum," Metheny plays in a style that is obviously from his bag of tricks but modified to fit the format. And, as the title of the album implies, the groove is off the charts!
5. Joe Pass: Virtuoso Series
I'm saying series here because I own these in a hodgepodge fashion on various "best of" collections, as opposed to the actual Virtuoso album itself. What I'm really talking about is the barely amplified, acoustic archtop solo guitar work from that album on standards such as "How High the Moon" and "Summertime." Need I really say more- nobody really does solo guitar like Pass did, and he is the super high standard I try to aim for when I work on solo guitar myself.
Many guitar players over the years have mastered the art of solo guitar but yet fail to capture the awesome power of Pass' playing. While he certainly worked out many bits, his playing, even the shout chorus type stuff, sounds totally improvised out of thin air.
6. Joe Pass: "The Song Is You" YouTube video
This isn't an album but a video of Pass on an old television program (this was in his days as a West Coast cat, probably not long after he kicked his drug habit). This isn't an album, yet stumbling upon this helped reignite my interest in jazz guitar after a few years in which I was pursuing other education. Look up this thing and watch him absolutely shred this song at a fast tempo, on a freakin' Fender Jaguar guitar no less! Important lessons here: Yes, tone is important.... but if your feel and what your actually playing is hot, than you'll sound good no matter what your tone is!
7. Grant Green: The Complete Sessions with Sonny Clark
Could this be the greatest Grant Green reissue? Perhaps. Some people consider Idle Moments the best of Green but I would place this at the top. He is with sympathetic company in Clark, another bebop oriented musician playing hard bop music with Blue Note. This one has a bit of everything: standards, jazz compositions (including a very interesting take on Oleo) and a scorching, fire belching rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So," a minor blues with a jazz turnaround. Grant isn't really the kind of guy who took ridiculously long solos, but on this cut everyone is digging Grant's playing so much that they keep forcing him to take chorus after chorus! You can hear whoops and other vocalizations in the background as the musicians react to Grant's licks.
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