Legends of

Jazz Guitar
Volume Two
featuring Wes Montgomery Kenny Burrell Barney Kessel Charlie Byrd Grant Green

LEGENDS
V OLUME TWO
by Mark Humphrey

OF

JAZZ GUITAR

What becomes a legend most? Judging from the dazzling improvisatory exchanges in the trio performance which opens this video, perhaps its comradely competition. Then again, it may be the challenge a master improviser like Joe Pass makes of the blues idiom. Rhythms that are anything but routine please these legends, as do the harmonic textures they extract from standards. Drive delights these legends, but so, too, does understatement. Variety apparently becomes these legends best. They deliver dynamics, sundry shades of blue and brighter tonal colors as well. Chameleon-like, they change sonic shades without notice. They run the gamut from playfully funky to moody and meditative, and it is their absolute mastery of so much emotional and musical territory which justifies calling these artists legends.

BARNEY KESSEL
Above all, the humanness of a performer should be apparent...the essence of a living being is greater than the music. The music is only an expression of that essence. Barney Kessel
Photo by Tom Copi

Articulate and passionate, Barney Kessel has been a crusader for jazz since discovering it in his teens in Muskogee, Oklahoma. That was Kessels birthplace in 1923, and it was there he first explored jazz in an otherwise-black band at age 14. I knew what I wanted to find, Kessel once remarked of his first forays into jazz, and I used the guitar to find it. Finding Charlie Christian grooving to his playing at an Oklahoma City club was the shock of Kessels life. Christians encouraging words (Im gonna tell Benny about you) inspired the sixteen-year-old Kessel to strike out on his own, first to the upper Midwest and ultimately to California. There his presence at jam sessions brought him to the attention of producer-promoter Norman Granz, who enlisted Kessel (along with Lester Young and other greats) for the 1944 film short, Jammin the Blues. Kessel soon took the guitar chair in a succession of notable big bands, including those of Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, and Benny Goodman. He began exploring bebop when Dizzy
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Photo Courtesy of Ashley Mark Publishing Co.

Gillespie and Charlie Parker came to Los Angeles in 1945. He played with Parker on a 1946 Dial Records session and became a mainstay of the Hollywood studios, backing everyone from Bird to Billie Holiday. In 1952, Kessel joined Oscar Petersons trio. His tenmonth stint with the group brought him greater attention and gave him the confidence to begin recording and performing as leader. Despite a busy schedule of session work, Kessel became the leading voice of jazz guitar in the 1950s. He routinely walked away with the guitar honors in down beat s annual poll until Wes Montgomery unseated him in 1963. Kessel continued to be an active and influential force in jazz guitar throughout the 1960s-1980s. His composition, Blue Mist, is the springboard for stunning conversations among Kessel, Kenny Burrell, and Grant Green captured at Ronnie Scotts in London in 1969. An example of jazz artistry at its peak, the exchange of solos culminates with each guitarist making statements brilliantly extended by the others. 1974s BBC Blues is a Kessel revision of Basies Blues (see Legends of Jazz Guitar, Volume One ) with a title honoring the company which taped it. Its an example of Kessel in top form exhibiting what Norman Mongan, in The History of the Guitar in Jazz, calls His
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personal mannerisms the upward (or backward) rake across the strings, the extroverted use of blue notes, smears, chordal solos (which) make his approach immediately recognizable. And Kessels signature sound has become an indelible part of jazz guitar history. You look at the guitar as a tool, he told Arnie Berle, to help you manifest what it is you already hear to bring out what you have inside.

KENNY BURRELL
I can spot his playing anywhere. His chord conception is wonderful, and youre always aware of the harmonic movement in his work. Thats particularly evident in his single-string solos. Hes just one of the greats. Tal Farlow on Kenny Burrell

I wanted to play saxophone, Kenny Burrell once said, but we could not afford a sax. Born in Detroit in 1931, Burrell grew up in a musical family (his older brother Billy played guitar, as did his father). Burrells early heroes were the great sax men Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, but he discovered a guitarist of comparable genius when he heard Charlie Christian. He wanted to get a certain sound, said Burrell, and he felt this so deeply that he was able to overcome the limits of the instrument to obtain it. Burrell got a $10 steel-string and be5

Photo Courtesy of Tropix International

gan his own struggle with its limits: If your feeling is strong enough, he observes, you can get your sound. Burrells sound was first heard in pianist Tommy Flanagans trio in 1947. At age 19, Burrell was hired by Dizzy Gillespie for a month and recorded for Gillespies Dee Gee label. Despite many offers to tour, Burrell pursued a Bachelor of Music degree in theory and composition at Wayne State University. He studied classical guitar in college, then spent six months subbing for an ailing Herb Ellis in Oscar Petersons trio. In 1956, he moved to New York, where his reading ability helped him establish himself in the studios. There werent many guitarists who could play blues as well as read, Burrell noted. His first Blue Note album, Introducing Kenny Burrell (LT81523), was recorded in July 1956, and led to years of New York-based sessions for Blue Note and Prestige along with studio work accompanying everyone from James Brown to Lena Horne. If youre lucky, says Burrell, you should be able to make a living at something you enjoy doing. Burrell, whose career has included teaching at UCLA as well as touring and recording, is extremely lucky. We first encounter him exchanging volleys with Barney Kessel and Grant Green in the spectacular Blue Mist. Next he appears at 1987s San Remo Jazz Festival in the company of bassist Dave Jackson and drummer Kenny Washington. Lover Man is an exquisite interpretation of this standard which showcases the qualities (wonderful chord conception and harmonic movement) Tal Farlow admires in Burrell. The Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin composition, My Ship, sails on an acoustic steel-string and demonstrates another side of this versatile guitar master. When someone turns on the radio and hears four bars and recognizes that its your sound, says Burrell, that is the thing that makes the difference, along with being really musical and consistent.

Photo by Tom Copi

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-bor n Grant Green (19311975) was introduced to the guitar by an uncle he recalled playing old Muddy Waters-type blues. His first instrument was a Harmony with an amplifier, Green recalled, that looked like an old-timey radio. After a stint with a St. Louis gospel gr oup, he served an apprenticeship playing standards with accordionist Joe Murphy, who Green remembered as a rarity and novelty. You just didnt find any black people playing accordion then. Greens emergence in the 1960s was hailed by some critics as a renaissance of Charlie Christians style: Green is particularly concerned with the guitars horn-like possibilities, wrote Robert Levin, and has reduced certain elements of Charlie Christians approach to their basics. Without denying an affinity, Green said he was less consciously influenced by Christian than he was alto sax giant Charlie Parker. Listening to Charlie, he told Gary N. Bourland, was like hearing a different man play every night. Listening to Charlie brought Green to jazz. In 1960, Green moved from St. Louis to New York after tenor saxophonist Lou Donaldson recommended Green to Blue Note Records. Greens debut album, Grants First Stand (Blue Note BLP 4086), met with rave reviews and initiated a decade which found Green busy
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Photo by Tom Copi

as session man on Blue Note recordings fronted by Lee Morgan, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy Smith, among others. Green won down beat s New Star Award in 1962, and as part of the 1969 triumvirate of Kessel, Burrell, and Green, burned through Kessels Blue Mist with soulful fervor.

WES MONTGOMERY
It doesnt matter how much artistry one has; its how its presented that counts. Wes Montgomery
Photo by Chuck Stewart

By any measure of artistry and the presentation thereof, Wes Montgomery was a giant. Born John Leslie Montgomery on March 6, 1925, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wes was a late bloomer. He took up the guitar at 19, first a tenor and then a six-string electric. His interest was fired by the recordings of Charlie Christian: I dont care what instrument a cat played, Montgomery said, if he
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didnt understand and feel the things that Charlie Christian was doing, he was a pretty poor musician. Employed as a welder, Montgomery diligently sat with his guitar and Charlie Christian records for hours. The biggest problem, he said of the guitar, is getting started... Its a very hard instrument to accept, because it takes years to start working with... Montgomery was working well enough with it by 1948 to land a job with Lionel Hampton, a stint which let him polish techniques achieved partly by accident: a neighbors complaint prompted Montgomery to drop the pick and try plucking the strings with the fat part of my thumb. This was much quieter, he recalled. The unique attack he developed with his thumb, along with what Montgomery called the trick of playing the melody line in two different registers at the same time the octave thing, became his trademarks. Guitarist Les Spann, who mar veled at Montgomerys perfect knowledge of the instrument, noted that Montgomerys thumb gives his playing a very percussive feeling and remarkable tone. As seen in this video, Montgomery was as graceful and assured as he was dynamic. The apparent effortlessness of his playing was actually the result of years of hard work: I used to have headaches every time I played those octaves, Montgomery told Ralph Gleason, because it was a strain, but the minute Id quit, Id be all right. I dont why, but it was my way, and my way just backfired on me. But now I dont have headaches when I play octaves. Im showing you how a strain can capture a cat and almost choke him, but after awhile it starts to ease up because you get used to it. Montgomery spent most of the 1950s giging locally in Indianapolis while keeping his day job at a radio parts factory to support his large family. His break came in 1959, when Cannonball Adderly recommended him to Riverside Records. His recordings were hailed as revelations, and Montgomery quickly gained a star status unprecedented in the history of jazz guitar. The jazz critics and aficionados who heralded Montgomery in the early 1960s were dismayed when, shortly after the performances in this video were made, he began playing jazz
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versions of pop tunes (Going Out of My Head won Montgomer y a 1966 Grammy). It could be argued that Montgomerys jazz-pop hybrid brought jazz guitar a wider listenership, but the consensus on his music was bitterly divided at the time a heart attack claimed this giant in 1968. The accusations of selling out had yet to be hurled at Montgomery when he delivered the brilliant performances captured on this video. Accompanied by pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Arthur Harper and drummer Jimmy Lovelace, Montgomery made a 1965 appearance on the BBCs Jazz 625 program. The sheer joy of creating such joyous music is seen in Montgomerys face while playing the saucy Full House, an original composition. Contrasting to its Take Five-ish off-kilter rhythms is the bluesy brilliance of Thelonious Monks Round Midnight. Montgomerys Riverside recording of this on an album by the same name is regarded as one of the greatest interpretations of this standard. Here Montgomery balances power with understatement superbly supported by his ensembles subtle playing (note the brief shift to a Bolero rhythm towards the end). A genius who understood the art of sharing the spotlight, Montgomery once told fellow guitarist Jimmy Stewart: In jazz music in recent years, most sidemen want to be the leader and most leaders want to be the whole show. Very few people reach the top in their field, and you should not be frustrated by not reaching the top. The process of achieving your goal is more rewarding than the goal itself.

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Photo by Tom Copi

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CHARLIE BYRD
Some guitarists impress me. Some guitarists reach me. Charlie Byrd does both. Herb Ellis on Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrds background is nothing if not eclectic. Born in Chuckatuck, Virginia, in 1925, Byrds first musical experiences were playing country music on the radio in Newport News with his father. He later tried his hand at playing jazz with a pick, only to be seduced by the sounds of the classical guitar. He studied with Segovia in 1954, but experienced a withering revelation: I really wasnt going to be a significant classical guitar player, Byrd recalls. Subsequently he decided to arrange some jazz for classical guitar, and this new sound debuted on a 1956 Savoy label album, Jazz Recital . Byrds new approach to jazz found a welcome audience. He won down beat s New Star award in 1960, the same year he toured with Woody Hermans band. The following year the State Department sponsored Byrds musical goodwill tour of Latin America, an event which led to Byrds role in introducing Brazils new beat (bossa nova) sound to America. His duet album with Stan Getz,
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Jazz Samba (Verve 6-8432), was the breakthrough for Brazilian music in America. I guess that got me typecast a little more than I would have liked, Byrd said of the bossa nova craze, but I like making arrangements of pr etty tunes and having a go at improvising on them. He does that superbly with Fats Wallers Jitterbug Waltz in a trio with his brother, Joe Byrd, on bass and Wayne Phillips on drums in a 1979 performance for Iowa Public Television (Jazz at the Maintenance Shop ). Byrd also takes an eloquent solo turn on Irving Berlins Isnt It a Lovely Day, demonstrating that classical musics loss has proven to be jazzs gain. I realized, Byrd said after his studies with Segovia, that it might be a better idea for me to use all my lifes experience, in jazz and popular music as well, combining them with classical... There are so many different ways to view music, and all of them can be fruitful. I think the fun is to pursue your own.

Photo by Tom Copi

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JOE PASS
...the guitar player has a beautiful tone, he phrases good, and...its really together. Wes Montgomery responding to a blindfold test playing of Joe Passs Sometime Ago

Gene Autry was his initial inspiration to play guitar. Later, he would discover the recordings of a fellow Italian-American, Eddie Lang (born Salvator e Massar o), whose version of My Blue Heaven especially impressed him: He played a whole chorus in chords and single notes, Joe Pass recalled, and it was as moder n as anybodys playing now. It was Pass who brought the art of solo jazz guitar (chords and single notes) to heights Lang could scarcely imagine, as witnessed by his two performances in this video. What you have to do, he reflected, is develop your own character in music, your own way of doing things. Joseph Anthony Passalaqua got a $17 Harmony guitar for his ninth birthday in 1938. It had a big, thick neck, he recalled, and was really hard to play. But play it he did, sometimes up to six hours a day under the watchful eye of a father who wanted something better for his son than a steelworkers life in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Pass was playing VFW dances with a local band at age 12, and before his teens ended he had chalked up road tours with the big bands of Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet. By the late 1940s Pass was in New York, jamming with some of the pioneers of bebop: The harmonic concept, the long melodic lines of the solos impressed
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Photo by Michael P. Smith

me, he recalled, and I listened to the saxes and trumpets, trying to play like them. Unfortunately, he joined the many jazz artists of the era who fell prey to heroin addiction. From 1949 to 1960, I played all over the States in those identical cocktail lounges with the red leather seating, Pass recalled, usually for a week or two at most... All that time I wasted, I was a bum, doing nothin. I could have made it much sooner but for drugs. Pass straightened out in 1961, and his career took off. His first album as leader, Catch Me (Pacific Jazz PJ 73), debuted to raves in 1963. Two years later, Pass joined the George Shearing Quintet. Pass teamed with pianist Oscar Peterson in 1969, and his 1973 duet album with Herb Ellis, Jazz Concord (Concord Jazz CJ-1), brought him a still-higher profile. Pass unveiled his extraordinary solo style on 1974s Virtuoso (Pablo 2310 707), the album which effectively made a guitar hero of Joe Pass. Watching him play Original Blues in A from a mid1970s BBC broadcast, its easy to see why. Pass drops a blues clich long enough to remind us where we are, then plays dazzling circles around it. The Ellingtonian chestnut, Prelude to a Kiss, provides Pass a springboard for breathtaking cascades of notes and richly textured harmonic inventions. While he could play punchy and fast with a pick, Pass preferred to use his fingers for solos such as these. Playing with your fingers is much better for 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 approach: The bass lines, for instance, arent always happening. Theyre implied sometimes... But by having motion keeping the whole thing moving with substitute chords, a strong pulse, and so on it sounds like its all happening at the same time.

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Photo by Tom Copi

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Virtuosity tempered by taste and informed by imagination it's a constant force in this collection of brilliant jazz guitar performances. This is the magic of our kind of music, Barney Kessel has said of jazz improvisation, and that magic abounds in these per formances. The thing is to make music, Kenny Burrell once observed, no matter what the tempo. That, to me, is the most demanding part of anything. It's not the physical or the technical part. It's just the idea of making it musical. 1. KESSEL/BURRELL/GREEN The high-wire act of balancBlue Mist ing virtuosity and musicality 2. WES MONTGOMERY meets its match in the Full House remarkable artists seen in this 3. JOE PASS second volume of Legends Blues Of Jazz Guitar. 4. KENNY BURRELL Lover Man 5. BARNEY KESSEL BBC Blues 6. CHARLIE BYRD Jitterbug Waltz 7. WES MONTGOMERY 'Round Midnight 8. JOE PASS Prelude To A Kiss 9. KENNY BURRELL My Ship 10. CHARLIE BYRD Isn't It A Lovely Day Vestapol 13033
Running 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 Copi Nationally distributed by Rounder Records, One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140 Representation to Music Stores by Mel Bay Publications 2001 Vestapol Productions A division of Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Inc.

ISBN: 1-57940-915-6

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