Legends ofJazz

GuitarVolume Two

featuringWes Montgomery

Kenny BurrellBarney KesselCharlie ByrdGrant Green

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LEGENDS OF JAZZ GUITARVOLUME TWOby Mark Humphrey

What becomes a legend most?Judging from the dazzlingimprovisatory exchanges in thetrio performance which opens thisvideo, perhaps it’s comradelycompetition. Then again, it maybe the challenge a master improviserlike Joe Pass makes of the blues idiom.Rhythms that are anything but routineplease these legends, as do theharmonic textures they extract fromstandards. Drive delights these legends,but so, too, does understatement.Variety apparently becomes theselegends best. They deliver dynamics,sundry shades of blue and brightertonal colors as well. Chameleon-like,they change sonic shades withoutnotice. They run the gamutfrom playfully funky tomoody and meditative,and it is their absolutemastery of so muchemotional and musicalterritory which justifiescalling theseartists legends.

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BARNEY KESSEL“Above all, the humanness of a performer should

be apparent...the essence of a living being is greaterthan the music. The music is only an expression

of that essence.” — Barney Kessel

Articulate and passionate, Barney Kessel has beena crusader for jazz since discovering it in his teens inMuskogee, Oklahoma. That was Kessel’s birthplace in1923, and it was there he first explored jazz in an other-wise-black band at age 14. “I knew what I wanted to find,”Kessel once remarked of his first forays into jazz, “and Iused the guitar to find it.”

Finding Charlie Christian grooving to his playing atan Oklahoma City club was the shock of Kessel’s life.Christian’s encouraging words (“I’m gonna tell Bennyabout you”) inspired the sixteen-year-old Kessel to strikeout on his own, first to the upper Midwest and ultimatelyto California. There his presence at jam sessions broughthim to the attention of producer-promoter Norman Granz,who enlisted Kessel (along with Lester Young and othergreats) for the 1944 film short, Jammin’ the Blues. Kesselsoon took the guitar chair in a succession of notable bigbands, including those of Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, andBenny Goodman. He began exploring bebop when Dizzy

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Gillespie and Charlie Parker came to Los Angeles in 1945.He played with Parker on a 1946 Dial Records sessionand became a mainstay of the Hollywood studios, back-ing everyone from Bird to Billie Holiday.

In 1952, Kessel joined Oscar Peterson’s trio. His ten-month stint with the group brought him greater attentionand gave him the confidence to begin recording and per-forming as leader. Despite a busy schedule of sessionwork, Kessel became the leading voice of jazz guitar inthe 1950s. He routinely walked away with the guitar hon-ors in down beat’s annual poll until Wes Montgomeryunseated him in 1963.

Kessel continued to be an active and influential forcein jazz guitar throughout the 1960s-1980s. His composi-tion, “Blue Mist,” is the springboard for stunning ‘con-versations’ among Kessel, Kenny Burrell, and GrantGreen captured at Ronnie Scott’s in London in 1969. Anexample of jazz artistry at its peak, the exchange of so-los culminates with each guitarist making statementsbrilliantly extended by the others.

1974’s “BBC Blues” is a Kessel revision of “Basie’sBlues” (see Legends of Jazz Guitar, Volume One) with atitle honoring the company which taped it. It’s an ex-ample of Kessel in top form exhibiting what NormanMongan, in The History of the Guitar in Jazz, calls “His

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personal mannerisms — the upward (or backward) rakeacross the strings, the extroverted use of blue notes,smears, chordal solos — (which) make his approach im-mediately recognizable.” And Kessel’s signature soundhas become an indelible part of jazz guitar history. “Youlook at the guitar as a tool,” he told Arnie Berle, “to helpyou manifest what it is you already hear — to bring outwhat you have inside.”

KENNY BURRELL“I can spot his playing anywhere. His chord

conception is wonderful, and you’re always awareof the harmonic movement in his work.

That’s particularly evident in his single-stringsolos. He’s just one of the greats.”

— Tal Farlow on Kenny Burrell“I wanted to

play saxophone,”Kenny Burrell oncesaid, “but we couldnot afford a sax.”Born in Detroit in1931, Burrell grewup in a musical fam-ily (his older brotherBilly played guitar,as did his father).Burrell’s early he-roes were the greatsax men ColemanHawkins and LesterYoung, but he dis-covered a guitaristof comparable ge-nius when he heardCharlie Christian.“He wanted to get a

certain sound,” said Burrell, “and he felt this so deeplythat he was able to overcome the limits of the instru-ment to obtain it.” Burrell got a $10 steel-string and be-

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gan his own struggle with its limits: “If your feeling isstrong enough,” he observes, “you can get your sound.”

Burrell’s sound was first heard in pianist TommyFlanagan’s trio in 1947. At age 19, Burrell was hired byDizzy Gillespie for a month and recorded for Gillespie’sDee Gee label. Despite many offers to tour, Burrell pur-sued a Bachelor of Music degree in theory and composi-tion at Wayne State University. He studied classical gui-tar in college, then spent six months subbing for an ail-ing Herb Ellis in Oscar Peterson’s trio. In 1956, he movedto New York, where his reading ability helped him estab-lish himself in the studios. “There weren’t many guitar-ists who could play blues as well as read,” Burrell noted.His first Blue Note album, Introducing Kenny Burrell (LT-81523), was recorded in July 1956, and led to years ofNew York-based sessions for Blue Note and Prestige alongwith studio work accompanying everyone from JamesBrown to Lena Horne.

“If you’re lucky,” says Burrell, “you should be ableto make a living at something you enjoy doing.” Burrell,whose career has included teaching at UCLA as well astouring and recording, is extremely lucky. We first en-counter him exchanging volleys with Barney Kessel andGrant Green in the spectacular “Blue Mist.” Next he ap-pears at 1987’s San Remo Jazz Festival in the companyof bassist Dave Jackson and drummer Kenny Washing-ton. “Lover Man” is an exquisite interpretation of this stan-dard which showcases the qualities (“wonderful chordconception and harmonic movement”) Tal Farlow ad-mires in Burrell. The Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin composi-tion, “My Ship,” sails on an acoustic steel-string and dem-onstrates another side of this versatile guitar master.“When someone turns on the radio and hears four barsand recognizes that it’s your sound,” says Burrell, “thatis the thing that makes the difference, along with beingreally musical and consistent.”

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GRANT GREEN“Green consolidated the place of the guitar in the

‘soul-jazz’ movement of the early 1960s.”— Norman Mongan, The History of the Guitar in Jazz

St. Louis-bornGrant Green (1931-1975) was introducedto the guitar by anuncle he recalled play-ing “old Muddy Wa-ters-type blues.” Hisfirst instrument was aHarmony with an am-plifier, Green recalled,that “looked like anold-timey radio.” Aftera stint with a St. Louisgospel group, heserved an apprentice-ship playing standardswith accordionist JoeMurphy, who Green re-membered as “a rarityand novelty. You justdidn’t find any black people playing accordion then.”

Green’s emergence in the 1960s was hailed by somecritics as a renaissance of Charlie Christian’s style: “Greenis particularly concerned with the guitar’s horn-like pos-sibilities,” wrote Robert Levin, “and has reduced certainelements of Charlie Christian’s approach to their basics.”Without denying an affinity, Green said he was less con-sciously influenced by Christian than he was alto sax gi-ant Charlie Parker. “Listening to Charlie,” he told GaryN. Bourland, “was like hearing a different man play ev-ery night.” Listening to Charlie brought Green to jazz.

In 1960, Green moved from St. Louis to New Yorkafter tenor saxophonist Lou Donaldson recommendedGreen to Blue Note Records. Green’s debut album,Grant’s First Stand (Blue Note BLP 4086), met with ravereviews and initiated a decade which found Green busy

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as session man on Blue Note recordings fronted by LeeMorgan, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy Smith, amongothers. Green won down beat’s New Star Award in 1962,and as part of the 1969 triumvirate of Kessel, Burrell,and Green, burned through Kessel’s “Blue Mist” with soul-ful fervor.

WES MONTGOMERY“It doesn’t matter how much artistry one has;

it’s how it’s presented that counts.” — Wes Montgomery

By any measure of artistry and the presentationthereof, Wes Montgomery was a giant. Born John LeslieMontgomery on March 6, 1925, in Indianapolis, Indiana,Wes was a late bloomer. He took up the guitar at 19, firsta tenor and then a six-string electric. His interest wasfired by the recordings of Charlie Christian: “I don’t carewhat instrument a cat played,” Montgomery said, “if he

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didn’t understand and feel the things that Charlie Chris-tian was doing, he was a pretty poor musician.”

Employed as a welder, Montgomery diligently sat withhis guitar and Charlie Christian records for hours. “Thebiggest problem,” he said of the guitar, “is gettingstarted... It’s a very hard instrument to accept, becauseit takes years to start working with...” Montgomery wasworking well enough with it by 1948 to land a job withLionel Hampton, a stint which let him polish techniquesachieved partly by accident: a neighbor’s complaintprompted Montgomery to drop the pick and try “pluck-ing the strings with the fat part of my thumb. This wasmuch quieter,” he recalled. The unique attack he devel-oped with his thumb, along with what Montgomery called“the trick of playing the melody line in two different reg-isters at the same time — the octave thing,” became histrademarks. Guitarist Les Spann, who marveled atMontgomery’s “perfect knowledge of the instrument,”noted that Montgomery’s thumb “gives his playing a verypercussive feeling and remarkable tone.”

As seen in this video, Montgomery was as gracefuland assured as he was dynamic. The apparent effort-lessness of his playing was actually the result of years ofhard work: “I used to have headaches every time I playedthose octaves,” Montgomery told Ralph Gleason, “be-cause it was a strain, but the minute I’d quit, I’d be allright. I don’t why, but it was my way, and my way justbackfired on me. But now I don’t have headaches when Iplay octaves. I’m showing you how a strain can capturea cat and almost choke him, but after awhile it starts toease up because you get used to it.”

Montgomery spent most of the 1950s giging locallyin Indianapolis while keeping his day job at a radio partsfactory to support his large family. His break came in1959, when Cannonball Adderly recommended him toRiverside Records. His recordings were hailed as revela-tions, and Montgomery quickly gained a star status un-precedented in the history of jazz guitar. The jazz criticsand aficionados who heralded Montgomery in the early1960s were dismayed when, shortly after the perfor-mances in this video were made, he began playing jazz

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versions of pop tunes (“Going Out of My Head” won Mont-gomery a 1966 Grammy). It could be argued thatMontgomery’s jazz-pop hybrid brought jazz guitar a widerlistenership, but the consensus on his music was bitterlydivided at the time a heart attack claimed this giant in1968.

The accusations of ‘selling out’ had yet to be hurledat Montgomery when he delivered the brilliant perfor-mances captured on this video. Accompanied by pianistHarold Mabern, bassist Arthur Harper and drummerJimmy Lovelace, Montgomery made a 1965 appearanceon the BBC’s Jazz 625 program. The sheer joy of creat-ing such joyous music is seen in Montgomery’s face whileplaying the saucy “Full House,” an original composition.Contrasting to its “Take Five”-ish off-kilter rhythms isthe bluesy brilliance of Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Mid-night.” Montgomery’s Riverside recording of this on analbum by the same name is regarded as one of the great-est interpretations of this standard. Here Montgomerybalances power with understatement superbly supportedby his ensemble’s subtle playing (note the brief shift to aBolero rhythm towards the end). A genius who under-stood the art of sharing the spotlight, Montgomery oncetold fellow guitarist Jimmy Stewart: “In jazz music in re-cent years, most sidemen want to be the leader and mostleaders want to be the whole show. Very few people reachthe top in their field, and you should not be frustrated bynot reaching the top. The process of achieving your goalis more rewarding than the goal itself.”

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CHARLIE BYRD“Some guitarists impress me.

Some guitarists reach me. Charlie Byrd does both.”— Herb Ellis on Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrd’s background is nothing if not eclectic.Born in Chuckatuck, Virginia, in 1925, Byrd’s first musi-cal experiences were playing country music on the radioin Newport News with his father. He later tried his handat playing jazz with a pick, only to be seduced by thesounds of the classical guitar. He studied with Segovia in1954, but experienced a withering revelation: “I reallywasn’t going to be a significant classical guitar player,”Byrd recalls. Subsequently he decided to arrange somejazz for classical guitar, and this new sound debuted on a1956 Savoy label album, Jazz Recital.

Byrd’s new approach to jazz found a welcome audi-ence. He won down beat’s New Star award in 1960, thesame year he toured with Woody Herman’s band. Thefollowing year the State Department sponsored Byrd’smusical goodwill tour of Latin America, an event whichled to Byrd’s role in introducing Brazil’s ‘new beat’ (bossanova) sound to America. His duet album with Stan Getz,

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Jazz Samba (Verve6-8432), was thebreakthrough forBrazilian music inAmerica. “I guessthat got me type-cast a little morethan I would haveliked,” Byrd said ofthe bossa novacraze, “but I likemaking arrange-ments of prettytunes and having ago at improvisingon them.”

He does thatsuperbly with FatsWaller’s “JitterbugWaltz” in a trio withhis brother, JoeByrd, on bass and Wayne Phillips on drums in a 1979performance for Iowa Public Television (Jazz at the Main-tenance Shop). Byrd also takes an eloquent solo turn onIrving Berlin’s “Isn’t It a Lovely Day,” demonstrating thatclassical music’s loss has proven to be jazz’s gain. “I re-alized,” Byrd said after his studies with Segovia, “that itmight be a better idea for me to use all my life’s experi-ence, in jazz and popular music as well, combining themwith classical... There are so many different ways to viewmusic, and all of them can be fruitful. I think the fun is topursue your own.”

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JOE PASS“...the guitar player has a beautiful tone,

he phrases good, and...it’s really together.”— Wes Montgomery responding to a ‘blindfold test’

playing of Joe Pass’s “Sometime Ago”

Gene Autry was his ini-tial inspiration to playguitar. Later, he woulddiscover the recordingsof a fellow Italian-Ameri-can, Eddie Lang (bornSalvatore Massaro),whose version of “MyBlue Heaven” especiallyimpressed him: “Heplayed a whole chorus inchords and single notes,”Joe Pass recalled, “and itwas as modern asanybody’s playing now.”It was Pass who broughtthe art of solo jazz guitar(“chords and singlenotes”) to heights Langcould scarcely imagine,

as witnessed by his two performances in this video. “Whatyou have to do,” he reflected, “is develop your own char-acter in music, your own way of doing things.”

Joseph Anthony Passalaqua got a $17 Harmony gui-tar for his ninth birthday in 1938. “It had a big, thickneck,” he recalled, “and was really hard to play.” Butplay it he did, sometimes up to six hours a day under thewatchful eye of a father who wanted something betterfor his son than a steelworker’s life in Johnstown, Penn-sylvania. Pass was playing VFW dances with a local bandat age 12, and before his teens ended he had chalked uproad tours with the big bands of Tony Pastor and CharlieBarnet. By the late 1940s Pass was in New York, jam-ming with some of the pioneers of bebop: “The harmonicconcept, the long melodic lines of the solos impressed

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me,” he recalled, “and I listened to the saxes and trum-pets, trying to play like them.”

Unfortunately, he joined the many jazz artists of theera who fell prey to heroin addiction. From 1949 to 1960,“I played all over the States in those identical cocktaillounges with the red leather seating,” Pass recalled, “usu-ally for a week or two at most... All that time I wasted, Iwas a bum, doing nothin’. I could have made it muchsooner but for drugs.” Pass straightened out in 1961, andhis career took off.

His first album as leader, Catch Me (Pacific Jazz PJ73), debuted to raves in 1963. Two years later, Pass joinedthe George Shearing Quintet. Pass teamed with pianistOscar Peterson in 1969, and his 1973 duet album withHerb Ellis, Jazz Concord (Concord Jazz CJ-1), broughthim a still-higher profile. Pass unveiled his extraordinarysolo style on 1974’s Virtuoso (Pablo 2310 707), the al-bum which effectively made a guitar hero of Joe Pass.

Watching him play “Original Blues in A” from a mid-1970s BBC broadcast, it’s easy to see why. Pass drops ablues cliché long enough to remind us where we are, thenplays dazzling circles around it. The Ellingtonian chest-nut, “Prelude to a Kiss,” provides Pass a springboard forbreathtaking cascades of notes and richly textured har-monic inventions. While he could play punchy and fastwith a pick, Pass preferred to use his fingers for solossuch as these. “Playing with your fingers is much betterfor solo guitar,” he declared. “You can get counterpoint,add bass lines.” In an interview with Tim Schneckloth(down beat, March 1984), Pass elaborated on this ap-proach: “The bass lines, for instance, aren’t always hap-pening. They’re implied sometimes... But by havingmotion — keeping the whole thing moving with substi-tute chords, a strong pulse, and so on — it sounds likeit’s all happening at the same time.”

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Virtuosity tempered by tasteand informed by imagination– it's a constant force in thiscollection of bril l iant jazzguitar performances. “This isthe magic of our kind ofmusic,” Barney Kessel hassaid of jazz improvisation,and that magic abounds inthese per formances. “Thething is to make music ,”Kenny Burrell once observed,“no matter what the tempo.That , to me, is the mostdemanding part of anything.It's not the physical or thetechnical part. It's just theidea of making it musical.”The high-wire act of balanc-ing virtuosity and musicalitymeets i ts match in theremarkable artists seen in thissecond volume of LegendsOf Jazz Guitar.

1. KESSEL/BURRELL/GREENBlue Mist

2. WES MONTGOMERYFull House

3. JOE PASSBlues

4. KENNY BURRELLLover Man

5. BARNEY KESSELBBC Blues

6. CHARLIE BYRDJitterbug Waltz

7. WES MONTGOMERY'Round Midnight

8. JOE PASSPrelude To A Kiss

9. KENNY BURRELLMy Ship

10. CHARLIE BYRDIsn't It A Lovely Day

Vestapol 13033Running Time: 60 minutes • B/W and Color

Front Cover Photo: Kenny Burrell courtesy of Tropix Int.Back Photos: Wes Montgomery by Chuck Stewart

Barney Kessel by Tom CopiNationally distributed by Rounder Records,One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

Representation to Music Stores byMel Bay Publications

® 2001 Vestapol ProductionsA division of

Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Inc.

ISBN: 1-57940-915-6

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