The Evolution of Jazz Guitar Part 1
Portrait of Django Reinhardt, Aquarium, New York, N.Y. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]
The following series on the evolution of jazz guitar briefly describes each era in the development of this genre, however it omits the names of several important non- guitar musicians and likewise does not go into detail regarding several important contributions they made.
Its main objective is to educate the reader as to the role the guitar played during each stage of the music's history as well as introduce us to its most influential players. Before we begin I would like to point out that the guitar played a minor role in jazz prior to the1930's. It wasn't until after this period in time that the guitar began developing its own sophisticated voice and was first featured in jazz improvisation at par with the piano, brass and woodwind soloists. In lieu of this fact, I have chosen to begin this series with the Swing Era.
English: Quintette du Hot Club de France - Django Reinhardt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Swing Era's most prominent contribution to jazz is believed to be by many, the introduction of the "big band" orchestra format. In addition to a combination of brass, woodwinds, and a rhythm section, until the 1930's most dance orchestras also included a string section. The string instruments were dropped from the format and the new orchestras were streamlined for the new daring swing arrangements which featured not only highly orchestrated music influenced by European traditions, but also a soloist who after taking center stage, would improvise over the framework of the entire piece. It was not unusual for other soloists to join in sometimes and engage in collective improvisation, a practice already common when performing Blues and Dixieland.
Throughout the first part of the 20th century, jazz was not considered a respectable form of music among mainstream white audiences due to the fact that it was synonymous with the music of brothels and black culture. However, in 1930 George Gershwin was responsible for completing the assimilation of jazz into white American society by writing I Got Rhythm for a successful Broadway musical. One of the musicians who played in the pit orchestra of that show was a young clarinetist named Benny Goodman who went on to become one of the most influential band leaders of the swing era. Until this point most bandleaders associated with jazz, were black. Not only has Benny Goodman been credited for being one of the first white bandleaders in the world of jazz (along with Glen Miller and the Dorsey brothers) but also for introducing us to Charlie Christian, one of the first electric guitarists in the history of jazz improvisation.
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, on July 29th, 1919, and raised in Oklahoma City. It was here that Christian learned to play guitar as a kid. As a result of his surroundings he was influenced not only by jazz and blues but also by country music. This hybrid amalgam of influences is evident when listening to several of his recordings such as "Seven Come Eleven," with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Christian admitted to wanting to sound like a tenor saxophone and thus his fluent horn-like solos were influenced by saxophonists such as Lester Young. While working in Oklahoma as a young musician, Christian was able to jam with several big name musicians who came through town such as Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. It was pianist Mary Lou Williams who first gave word to record producer John Hammond about the talented young guitarist.
After auditioning Christian, Hammond arranged a meeting with Benny Goodman. Being the first white bandleader to feature black musicians, in 1939 Goodman hired Charlie Christian to play in his newly formed sextet also featuring Lionel Hampton on vibraphone and Teddy Wilson on piano. Shortly thereafter, Christian's innovative style on guitar was captured in the studio for the first time. Unfortunately, his recording career lasted less than two years, as he died of tuberculosis on March 2, 1942, in New York.
FREDDIE GREEN In his autobiography, talent scout and producer John Hammond describes how he first discovered Freddy Green playing at a mob owned joint in New York City called "The Black Cat". He states that what most impressed him was how Green with his "unusually long fingers, a steady stroke, unobtrusively held the whole rhythm section together." It was 1937 and bandleader Count Basie was debuting with his orchestra in town when Hammond took him to the Black Cat to hear Green. Shortly after this meeting,
Basie hired Green who went on to record with his big band for the first time on March 26, 1937 and thereafter remained a member for almost half a decade. This gave birth, along with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and Walter Page on bass, to the legendary "All American Rhythm Section". When asked why he dwelled on the high register of the keyboard during his solos, Count Basie's reply was..."After all, I do have the world's best rhythm section." Born in Charleston, South Carolina on the 31st of March 1911, Freddy Green pioneered the way a guitar should function both rhythmically and harmonically within the big band.
During one of his interviews he stated that "you should never hear the guitar by itself. It should be part of the drums so it sounds like the drummer is playing chords-like the snare is in A or the hi-hat in D minor." Green who used to hold the guitar almost flat on his lap, favored an unamplified guitar and rarely soloed. He was a minimalist when selecting his chord voicings which often consisted of the 3 most essential notes that comprise each chord (root, 3rd and 7th). The unsounded strings were muted by his left hand. This technique resulted in a percussive effect that not only locked in tightly with the drums but also helped avoid any interference with the rich collective harmony being played by the overall band. Freddie Green passed away on March 1, 1987 at the age of seventy-five. DJANGO REINHARDT AND GYPSY SWING (pronounced zahn-go) During the 1930's in Europe another important movement known as "Gypsy Swing "surfaced among jazz aficionados. It was inspired by Belgium born guitarist, Jean "Django" Reinhardt.
Also known as "manouche jazz", its orchestration consisted of guitar (usually 2), violin, accordion, clarinet and upright bass. The percussive nature of the drums was replaced by a rhythm guitar technique known as "la pompe". Another peculiar characteristic of this style is the use of mainly 2 and 3 finger chord structures instead of standard barre chords on guitar. This is to emulate the unique style Django Reinhardt developed in order to play chords as a result of a hand injury. At the age of 18, Reinhard's caravan caught on fire and two of his left hands fingers were badly burned. Although he was able to relearn how to execute his single string solos at blazing tempos with only 2 fingers, his remaining digits were reserved for a limited physical role in the formation of chords.
As a result Django's chords consisted of only the essential notes. What a coincidence that around this same period in time, thousands of miles away, guitarist Freddie Green developed a very similar harmonic concept except for different reasons! In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli formed the "Quintette du Hot Club de France".
The guitars used by Django and the Hot Club of France, the Selmer Maccaferri, are the first commercially available guitars with a cutaway. This was the first time a steel reinforced neck was employed. Many luthiers consider them to be among the finest guitars ever made. Django Reinhardt died on May 16, 1953 in Fountainbleu, France of a brain hemorrhage. Contemporary Gypsy jazz is kept alive today thanks to many guitarists such as Bireli Lagrene, Boulou and Elios Ferre, Babik Reinhardt, Angelo DeBarre, Jimmy Rosenberg, and John Jorgensen among others.
For discographies and videos of the profiled jazz guitarists please visit http://www.miamijazzguitar.comRichie Zellon (guitarist, composer, arranger and educator) has held teaching positions as professor of jazz guitar at Florida International University (Miami) and the University of South Florida (Tampa). He has offered clinics on jazz and Latin American music at various prestigious schools such as the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Jacksonville University and the University of South Florida. An ongoing columnist for Jazz Improv magazine, Zellon is currently director of Miami Jazz Guitar.
For more info please visit http://www.miamijazzguitar.com
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