Favourite Player Poll

seanlowe · #1 04-12-2007, 08:16 AM

sorry for any shortcomings of this poll, it is only guitarists and obviously there is more than ten around, but thats the max option, so here goes:

CM1000 · #2 04-12-2007, 10:04 AM

wow, that was a tough one. I had to pick Joe Pass. I never get tired of his records or watching his concert videos. While some of the other guys on there maybe have been flashier or whatever. Pass played with real class, something you really cant teach.
while I do enjoy Abercrombie alot for his originality and Wes, he just had superb phrasing. sometimes I listen and I am amazed on how fresh his improv consistently sounded. I dont know if anybody has ever really emulated his playing successfully (and we all know that its been attempted)

dirkji · #3 04-12-2007, 10:27 AM

Yes, that's a tough choice. Pat Metheny used to be my favorite player for many years, but if I have to choose now it's Wes Montgomery.

- Dirk

Arnesto · #4 04-12-2007, 11:48 AM

one vote for my favorite (the teacher of my teacher too!

)

SonicBlast · #5 04-12-2007, 03:42 PM

my favorite jazz guitarist isn't there so i'll have to go with the next in line. has anyone here heard of Allan Holdsworth? I think he's the best guitarist in the world from what i've heard. and i've heard a lot. his website is The Real Allan Holdsworth.com if you want to see some of his stuff.

aPAULo · #6 04-12-2007, 06:30 PM

I had to go with Wes Montgomery. He is what brought me into jazz in the first place.

I believe you forgot Charlie Christian though. I would think he would be in the top ten jazz guitarists.

jeanpatt · #7 04-12-2007, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aPAULo

I had to go with Wes Montgomery. He is what brought me into jazz in the first place.

I could'nt say better myself ...

Gabriel · #8 04-12-2007, 09:43 PM

Oh, wow. This was a tough choice. I mean, whats to gauge a favorite? Is it the guy that did the most for jazz? the most unique style? prettiest tone? Really, you can make favorites but in same way or another I'm sure every one of them has changed our ideas of jazz guitar for the better. Personally I don't have a favorite Jazz guitarist. Most of my style is influenced by guys who play piano bass or horn, anyways.

-G

Gabriel · #9 04-12-2007, 09:46 PM

I think George Benson should also have made the list. Although maybe not quite as sophisticated as the others, his record 'Giblet Gravy' has forever changed the way I think of guitar in a band context.

Another of note: Jeff Beck. Although not strictly jazz, any of you who have heard his records "Blow by Blow" and "Wired" know that this guy's a serious musician. Very expressive, tone for days...

-G

dirkji · #10 04-13-2007, 11:03 AM

I agree about George Benson, he swings as hell and his technique is marvelous. Check out this video of him playing Take5:

YouTube Video

CM1000 · #11 04-13-2007, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicBlast

my favorite jazz guitarist isn't there so i'll have to go with the next in line. has anyone here heard of Allan Holdsworth? I think he's the best guitarist in the world from what i've heard. and i've heard a lot. his website is The Real Allan Holdsworth.com if you want to see some of his stuff.

yes, allan holdsworth is definitely one of my all time favorite guitarist. I saw him last year and even go to take a picture with him. haha. he is great.

seanlowe · #12 04-15-2007, 01:23 PM

A thing about that george benson vid; if you curl your pinky under the neck of the guitar like that you can end up really hurting your forearm, and it takes out your ring and pinky fingers for a couple of months!! bad example by mr benson hehe, but a good solo...

aPAULo · #13 04-15-2007, 07:50 PM

Nice video that was posted. I really like the early George Benson, or at least most the songs ive heard ive enjoyed, but they are really tough to find.

MattEg · #14 04-16-2007, 09:35 AM

I had to go with Joe Pass. His "Portraits of Duke Ellington" Album blew my mind and got me into Jazz guitar. I listen to everyone on the listen and enjoy them all very much, such a hard choice ..

mr. beaumont · #15 04-16-2007, 03:10 PM

i'd go with jim hall out of who's posted here, but my favorites are grant green, jimmy raney, ed bickert and barry galbraith.

MrPelicano · #16 04-17-2007, 06:01 PM

I, too, went with Wes Montgomery as far as jazz guitarists are concerned. He's the player I listen to the most and whose songs and style I've been focused on since I switched from rock/metal to jazz in 2005.

However, John McLaughlin was the guitarist who first inspired me to take up the guitar in secondary school, after hearing Mahavishnu's "Dance of Maya", and I've been a huge fan of all his work ever since the mid 1970's. But I recognized early on that I simply can't play in his style, and am too influenced by the blues.

Gabriel mentioned Jeff Beck and I agree with him. Listening to "Blow by Blow" and "Wired" showed me how to make the transition from blues rock into jazz before I began listening to Wes, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, etc. Beck still does one of my favorite versions of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" (although I love McLaughlin's version on "My Goals Beyond").

Pat Martino is another big favorite of mine, particularly his Eastern-influenced, modal work on "Baiyina (The Clear Evidence)".

jonasfixe · #17 04-18-2007, 09:55 AM

Pat Martino and Tal Farlow should also be here. May be I would have chosen one of them. I think both have a great technique and musicality.

ES-175 · #18 04-18-2007, 10:28 AM

That is a tough question. So many great ones especially if you consider their style, era or even a specific geography. Maybe it is a good idea to have a list to pick from on the first pole. I selected Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass. Tal Farlow is actually one of my favorites as well as Brian Hughes and Joe Negri. They are two current players from Toronto and Pittsburgh, respectively, that are awesome guitarists.

wizard3739 · #19 04-18-2007, 12:28 PM

Ouch! Some of my favorites are missing from your list!

1) Jimmy Raney (all time king of bebop guitar)
2) Doug Raney (like his father with strong Pat Martino influence--killer chops!)
3) Howard Roberts
4) Howard Alden
5) Joe Diorio
6) etc., etc.....

jonasfixe · #20 04-18-2007, 12:57 PM

The great Charlie Christian, who is always modern, John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Eddie Lang, Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell, ....
We could go on and on...

I guess the best would be to have a big list and we would choose from 1 to 5 to score.

Gabriel · #21 04-18-2007, 04:09 PM

Okay so lest pretend for a moment that the list had ALL of our favourites, then we'd end up with nobody voting for half of them! I mean whats the worth of this poll other than to get an idea for who the major influeces of the other guitarists here are? I mean the poll was going to be submitted sooner or later anyways. Thank Seanlowe for taking the initiative.

-G

Gabriel · #22 04-18-2007, 04:11 PM

Case in point: nobody has voted for Frisell yet, and though you may like his stuff, with names like Pass and Montgomery, you wouldn't vote for the little guys, would you.

griphon ii · #23 04-19-2007, 06:33 PM

Mine are a little older.
Al Viola (Sinatra right hand), Hank Garland (swing country jazz picker that had a very rough and short music life), Chuck Wayne, unbelievable! (Bach fugue on the spot and his students, too), a few others I can't think of at the moment. Joe Diorio... ah...
Still Jim Hall, my favorite, at the moment, even though I've been influenced by so many; old and new and upcoming.

Mr. Gordo · #24 04-21-2007, 12:57 AM

I chose Joe Pass from that list. Surprised that I haven't seen a mention of Larry Carlton anywhere here, seeing him at Montreaux (unfortunately on tv, rather than live but still) got me into jazz.

griphon ii · #25 04-21-2007, 07:14 AM

When Joe Pass would visit my area in the late 70's to do master seminars, Charlie Encinosa would proctor and assist Joe Pass. I studied with Charlie.
Joe Pass IS one of my favorites. Gee, when they get that good, it's extremely
difficult to pick. Sandy Devito, a protege of Chuck Wayne; got to study with
him also. Unbelievable guitarists. Made me, almost, want to quit.
I just like Carlton's style. One of the first guys that could make rock and
roll lyrical, if that's possible. Right and wrong notes in the right place.
I was just thinking of influences that weren't on the list. Just making the
list, must have been tough.

Guitar Bum · #26 04-24-2007, 01:05 PM

Saying the list is short is an understatement. You would have a hard time keeping the list to 100 or even 500, there are just so many good jazz guitarists.

My real favorite, if I HAD to pick one would be Lee Ritenour, because Lee can do it all from Brazillian Jazz to Big Band Swing, and he does it all well. He's not locked into a particular groove. He can rock and he's not ashamed to and he does Wes better than Wes.

But I could add another hundred without hardly trying.

mr. beaumont · #27 04-24-2007, 01:12 PM

does wes better than wes...hmmmm...not in my opinion. not even close.

pete · #28 04-24-2007, 01:17 PM

I voted for McLaughlin, but would have voted for Kenny Burrell, Mimi Fox or Larry Coryell over him if we are just talking pure enjoyment in listening for me.

Guitar Bum · #29 04-24-2007, 01:18 PM

Well you are intitled to your opinion but my assessment is that Ritenour's Wes Bound is a far better CD than any of Wes's. Certainly production quality had improved over time but Lee is smoother. That's my objective opinion. But then some people think anybody still living could never be as good as someone that's been dead for decades. I think jazz guitar players will just keep gettting better because the build on what has gone before them, while new guitar players haven no more inate talent than the desceased ones, they have much larger library to learn from.

I stick by my assessment, Wes better than Wes.

yoyopa · #30 04-24-2007, 02:13 PM

I hate to be THAT guy, cuz you did admit the limits of the list...But no list of fav modern jazz guitarists can be taken seriously without inclusion of my friend and fellow Philadelphian, THE VELVET HAMMER OF PAT MARTINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!