Top 100 Jazz Guitar Albums

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The following "Top 100 Jazz Guitar Albums" list is the result of the numerous emails I get from people asking me to suggest jazz guitar cds to listen to. I decided to make this list with the help from forum members. About 220 people submitted their favorite jazz guitar albums and the result is this Top 100 list.

At the bottom of this page is another list, a Top 10 of jazz guitarists. I ordered them according to how many times they were mentioned in the Top 100 thread on the forum. Although not very scientific, both lists are a good starting point for beginning jazz guitarists in terms of recommended listening.

Btw, also check out the Top 100 Jazz Albums (without a guitarist as leader).

The Top 100 Jazz Guitar list is in alphabetical order. Every album is linked to Amazon.com, where you can listen to samples of most songs (links open in a new window).

1. Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy
2. Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue
3. Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave
4. Baden Powell - At the Rio Jazz Club
5. Barney Kessel - Kessel Plays Standards
6. Barney Kessel - The Poll Winners
7. Barry Galbraith - Guitar and the Wind (only available together with the album Manhatten Jazz Septette)
8. Bill Frisell - East/West
9. Bireli Lagrene - Gypsy Project
10. Bireli Lagrene - Standards
11. Bucky and John Pizzarelli - Contrasts
12. Charlie Byrd - At The Village Vanguard
13. Charlie Byrd - The Guitar Artistry of Charlie Byrd
14. Charlie Christian - Genius of the Electric Guitar
15. Charlie Christian - Solo Flight
16. Charlie Hunter - Bing Bing Bing
17. Danny Gatton - Untouchable
18. Django Reinhardt - Djangology
19. Django Reinhardt - Quintet du Hot Club de France
20. Earl Klugh - One on One
21. Ed Bickert - Live at The Garden Party
22. Eddie Lang - Jazz Guitar Virtuoso
23. Emily Remler - Firefly
24. Ernest Ranglin - Below the Bassline
25. Frank Gambale - Thinking Out Loud
26. George Barnes - Don't Get Around Much Anymore
27. George Benson - Bad Benson
28. George Benson - Breezin'
29. George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon
30. George Benson - The George Benson Cookbook
31. George Van Eps - Mellow Guitar
32. Grant Green - Green Street
    
33. Grant Green - Idle Moments
34. Grant Green - The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark
35. Hank Garland - Jazz Winds From a New Direction
36. Herb Ellis/Joe Pass - Seven, Come Eleven
37. Herb Ellis/Joe Pass - Two for the Road
38. Howard Alden/George Van Eps - 13 Strings
39. Howard Roberts - HR Is A Dirty Guitar Player
40. Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
41. Jim Hall - Concierto
42. Jim Hall - Live
43. Jim Hall/Bill Evans - Intermodulation
44. Jim Hall/Bill Evans - Undercurrent
45. Jim Hall/Ron Carter - Alone Together
46. Jimmy Bruno - Burnin'
47. Jimmy Raney - Wisteria
48. Joe Beck - Strangers in the Night
49. Joe Diorio Trio - Live
50. Joe Pass - For Django
51. Joe Pass - Virtuoso
    
52. John Abercrombie - Timeless
53. John Basile - The Desmond Project
54. John McLaughlin - Extrapolation
55. John Scofield - A Go Go
56. John Scofield - Hand Jive
57. Johnny Smith - Johnny Smith
58. Johnny Smith - Moonligh in Vermont (w Stan Getz)
59. Jonathan Kreisberg - Unearth
60. Kenny Burrell - Guitar Forms
    
61. Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
62. Kevin Eubanks - Guitarist
63. Kurt Rosenwinkel - Deep Song
64. Larry Carlton - Last Nite
65. Larry Coryell (w John McLaughlin) - Spaces
66. Lee Ritenour - Rit's House
67. Lenny Breau - Live on Bourbon Street
68. Luiz Bonfa - Solo in Rio 1959
69. Martin Taylor - Spirit of Django
70. Mike Stern - Play
71. Mike Stern - Standards (and Other Songs)
72. Mike Stern - Upside Downside
73. Mundel Lowe - Guitar Moods
74. Nguyen Le - Walking on the Tiger's Tail
75. Norman Brown - After the Storm
76. Pat Martino - El Hombre
77. Pat Martino - Footprints
78. Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life
79. Pat Metheny - Question and Answer
80. Pat Metheny/Charlie Haden - Beyond The Missouri Sky
81. Pat Metheny/John Scofield - I can see Your House From Here
82. Peter Bernstein - Earth Tones
83. Peter White - Caravan of Dreams
84. Phillip Catherine - Summer Night
85. Ralph Towner - Solstice
86. Rene Thomas Quintet - Guitar Groove
87. Robben Ford - Tiger Walk
88. Ronny Jordan - The Antidote
89. Rosenberg Trio - Caravan
90. Stanley Jordan - Stolen Moments
91. Steve Kahn - The Suitcase (Live)
92. Sylvain Luc - Trio Sud
93. Tal Farlow - Verve Jazz Masters 41
94. Ted Greene - Solo Guitar
95. Tuck Andress - Wreckless Precision
96. Wes Montgomery - Boss Guitar
97. Wes Montgomery - Bumpin'
98. Wes Montgomery - Full House
99. Wes Montgomery - Smokin' at the Half Note
100. Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Here's the Top 10 of jazz guitarists, sorted according to how many times they showed up in the Top 100 thread at the forum:

1. Wes Montgomery
2. Joe Pass
3. Jim Hall
4. Pat Metheny
5. George Benson
6. Grant Green
7. Kenny Burrell
8. Pat Martino
9. Django Reinhardt
10. John Scofield

  What do you think about the list? Discuss it here at the Jazz Guitar Forum