100 best jazz guitar albums

ddmaestro7 · #1 11-09-2009, 05:54 AM

Hey, I received the list for 100 best jazz guitar albums. Now, I am relatively new to the genre but I was appalled that Robert Conti did not make the list. I have not heard everything, but, I would think he would have made it before Pat Martino or Metheny for that matter. This guy is a serious shredder. This is tantamount to leaving Nicolo Paganini off a list of 100 best violin players!

princeplanet · #2 11-09-2009, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddmaestro7

Hey, I received the list for 100 best jazz guitar albums. Now, I am relatively new to the genre but I was appalled that Robert Conti did not make the list. I have not heard everything, but, I would think he would have made it before Pat Martino or Metheny for that matter. This guy is a serious shredder. This is tantamount to leaving Nicolo Paganini off a list of 100 best violin players!

I actually think that the list is a mature list that for the most part reflects the good taste of the folks that posted. Most people are more moved by beautiful phrasing and "choice" note/voicing selection rather than by "serious shredding". That's why you find guys like Jim Hall in these lists and not guys like Robert Conti. Speed only impresses young guys or pop/rock/blues/metal guys. In Jazz there are maybe a dozen parameters in which to excel at. Speed is only one of them. In genres like "metal", it seems like it's the only one....

That said, Conti is still an exceptional player! (btw, you should know that Martino and Metheny can can also "shred" along with the best of them!)

ddmaestro7 · #3 11-09-2009, 07:16 AM

O.K. princeplanet. I get where you are coming from. I also listen to non shredders like Ken Navarro and even the others on the list. I was just saying that there should always be at least one shredder in every genre. Shredding to me is one who is at the top of their game in their genre. Like I said, I'm still green on the jazz but I haven't heard anyone that can touch Conti yet at least in skill & improvisation.

Metal Fingers · #4 11-09-2009, 03:46 PM

Conti before Martino or Metheny??well,to be honest I know very little about Martino But that statement is absurd.Not to take anything away from Conti but come on.Metheny is one of the best(maybe the best) band leaders,composers and players out there.just sayin'

ddmaestro7 · #5 11-10-2009, 02:28 PM

Didn't mean to offend anyone...For starters I somehow thought it was a best players poll not best album. And yes I would rather hear something tasteful than technical. The one song that made me discover jazz when I was young was B.T.O.(Randy Bachman) - " Lookin' Out For #1". Anyone with some advice as to what to listen to for an experienced guitarist that knows almost no jazz guitar? I prefer to learn by ear.

Metal Fingers · #6 11-10-2009, 07:28 PM

JZ is that you?

randalljazz · #7 11-11-2009, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddmaestro7

Didn't mean to offend anyone...For starters I somehow thought it was a best players poll not best album. And yes I would rather hear something tasteful than technical. The one song that made me discover jazz when I was young was B.T.O.(Randy Bachman) - " Lookin' Out For #1". Anyone with some advice as to what to listen to for an experienced guitarist that knows almost no jazz guitar? I prefer to learn by ear.

early grant green. wes.

X-500 · #8 11-11-2009, 09:45 AM

I'm using Robert Conti's chord arrangement DVD's and have found his format and style well suited for my efforts in studying jazz guitar methods. I'll take this further, I admire his personality and candor. It might be the "Italian American South Philadelphia" style that appeals to me. It may not appeal to others. I see that character in his playing too. By the way, he couldn't be more opposite to "shredding" in these series of DVD's. They are all ballads with a "legato" sytle.

This brings my discussion to my point that music is a personal, and at times, an emotional experience for me. I never took much stock in polls or reader's opinions - but that is part of my personality and tastes; which has evolved to be independently oriented (not so that I wouldn't join this discussion

) I also like to be as eclectic as possible and try to absorb all that is positive and leave the rest. For me, all these fine jazz guitarists that are being mentioned, in one way or another, contributed or still contributes their individual style to our beloved genre of music, jazz. I would find it hard to rate them in any specific order.

Enjoy!

Bebop Fusion · #9 11-11-2009, 06:25 PM

I have a bunch of Conti's DVD's. Anyone who else does as well knows how well rounded of a player he is. I think his approach to teaching is awesome.

derek · #10 11-12-2009, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddmaestro7

Hey, I received the list for 100 best jazz guitar albums. Now, I am relatively new to the genre but I was appalled that Robert Conti did not make the list. I have not heard everything, but, I would think he would have made it before Pat Martino or Metheny for that matter. This guy is a serious shredder. This is tantamount to leaving Nicolo Paganini off a list of 100 best violin players!

Not to be too disrespectful, but you sound like a fan boi. Conti is a fine player, but is no where near either Pat. Not even close. Conti doesn't have dozens of recordings to his name, doesn't have a regular tour schedule, hasn't influenced a generation of guitarists, and hasn't composed tunes that are covered by other artists.

These things do not mean Robert isn't an excellent player, because he is. This is coming from someone who has a couple of his performance cd's and probably $100 worth of his instructional materials. It is yet to be seen how his instructional materials will influence this generation of players. Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion.

ddmaestro7 · #11 11-20-2009, 11:13 PM

WTF is a fan boi? Malmsteen didn't have an impressive catalog or numerous tours either when he broke the scene but he smoked all who came before him and so on... in other words Conti is the modern day jazz virtuoso so get over it. I still like Hendrix but 40 years later he's just an average player who was slightly ahead of his time. I have since listened to more Metheny and I am impressed but he's not the be all end all...long live Conti the "Tony Soprano" of jazz guitar!!

Metal Fingers · #12 11-21-2009, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddmaestro7

long live Conti the "Tony Soprano" of jazz guitar!!

Tony Soprano is a fictional t.v character.

ddmaestro7 · #13 11-21-2009, 04:54 PM

I know he's fictional, I was attempting to be humorous. Maybe I shouldn't stereotype Mr. Conti. My apologies....

Curtis.Nunley · #14 11-21-2009, 05:56 PM

From my perspective Conti is not a real jazzer and he's not that good of a technician. Nothing against him, but there are dozens of players like him. I've been playing for many years so any guitarist that truly studies jazz, not just on guitar, will begin to understand. Conti is one of the reasons that some real jazzers like Branford Marsalis don't like guitar players. Tone, timbre, note placement, note choice, timing (most guitarists tend to rush like Conti which ain’t jazzy), thematic development on his improvisation, etc. He ain’t in the top 100!

I'm not hating on Conti, more power to him. He's earning a living and that's cool. Let's be real.

X-500 · #15 11-22-2009, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis.Nunley

From my perspective Conti is not a real jazzer and he's not that good of a technician. Nothing against him, but there are dozens of players like him"

You are certainly entitled to your opinion sir.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis.Nunley

Conti is one of the reasons that some real jazzers like Branford Marsalis don't like guitar players. Tone, timbre, note placement, note choice, timing (most guitarists tend to rush like Conti which ain’t jazzy), thematic development on his improvisation, etc. He ain’t in the top 100!

Please back this up with a quote from Branford Marsalis. I researched your comment and have not found this statement published anywhere. With deference to your years of playing, you infer that to be a real "jazzer" one has to conform to your regimen of how it should be played and studied? With all due respect, that seems narrow minded.

ddmaestro7 · #16 11-23-2009, 05:16 PM

Real Jazz? Just what does constitute real jazz? I listen to at least 4 different kinds of jazz. Which ones wrong? Come on.... WTH do you think Conti is playing? Death Metal?? Originally Jazz is the combination of different instruments and music all thrown together and basically improvised because the individual musician is playing what he knows not what he thinks Jazz is. Eventually it took on it's own sound and the sprouted sub-genres.

derek · #17 11-24-2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddmaestro7

WTF is a fan boi? Malmsteen didn't have an impressive catalog or numerous tours either when he broke the scene but he smoked all who came before him and so on... in other words Conti is the modern day jazz virtuoso so get over it. I still like Hendrix but 40 years later he's just an average player who was slightly ahead of his time. I have since listened to more Metheny and I am impressed but he's not the be all end all...long live Conti the "Tony Soprano" of jazz guitar!!

A fan boi is someone who is fiercely loyal to a player/group to the extreme. So much so, that they suspend common sense in their defense of said player/group, and get quite upset when the rest of the world doesn't share their view.

Ywngie did not "smoke" all who came before him. He has extremely good chops/technique, and does just the one thing really, really well. Last time I saw him was on the G3 tour (2003), and after about 10-15 minutes, I had heard his whole bag. Impressive as his chops are, a constant flurry of notes at light speed gets boring pretty quickly imo.

I agree, Metheny isn't the end all be all either. However, Pat has somewhere around 50 recordings, most where he is the leader. He has spanned smooth jazz, fusion, acoustic, straight ahead jazz, and more modern stuff. He has played with virtually every major player of his time.

I admire your devotion to Mr. Conti, and respect your view. When we begin saying "X player is the best", then challenges to that thinking are going to surface. There is no such thing as "the best", only our favorites.

Metal Fingers · #18 11-24-2009, 12:55 PM

[quote=Curtis.Nunley;56478 Conti is one of the reasons that some real jazzers like Branford Marsalis don't like guitar players.

Well he sure used to like playing with Jerry Garcia and the rest of the Grateful Dead

...and I saw some of those shows and can attest to how much fun he was having up there.

Curtis.Nunley · #19 11-28-2009, 12:51 PM

Hey Derek - that was very nicely written!

derek · #20 11-28-2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks Curtis. Hope you are having a good weekend.