The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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    James Chirillo content:


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
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    O yes, an oldie but goodie. Still valid as to HOW to make the rythm section swing. A comment from my side: not many of the bigband guitarists - including myself - nowadays use a full acoustic large archtop that is being amplified by microphone.
    But other than that: James is a great performer who is willing to show us the way.
    What this reminds me off, is that there is also a couple of vids about "the Basie feel". Those vids point more or less in the same direction as to using a full acoustic archtop. My personal experience in the rythm section of bigbands is, that a full acoustic archtop is not loud enough if played unampified / not miked, Using a guitar with a pickup makes life much easier than an archtop that will be miked.
    Achieving the best possible acoustic sound, demands for a full acoustic archtop that is going to be miked.
    Living the bigband guitar life is always about making the right choices up front. What do I need, what will I take with me. Knowing where the next gig will be and what songs are to be played makes a lot, if not all the difference.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hotpepper01
    Living the bigband guitar life is always about making the right choices up front. What do I need, what will I take with me. Knowing where the next gig will be and what songs are to be played makes a lot, if not all the difference.
    I like to play swing rhythm in my big bands using a good well-projecting archtop (1940s Stromberg G1) with little or no amplification. A bit of reinforcement (repro DeArmond) can be helpful. But amplification is essential when a guitar solo over horn backgrounds is called for.

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    I've been working on improving my sound with my big band.

    I usually play a Comins GCS-1, which is a humbucker 335 type, more or less. The rhythm sound often strikes me as too bassy, even with the bass on the amp (DV Mark LJ) all the way down. The coil split on the neck pu sounds better, but requires a bigger amp. The LJ is marginal for this application, but I can keep up with the pianist, which strikes me as a good benchmark for volume in that setting.

    Last time, I brought my Yamaha Pacifica 012 with a Lil 59 HB in the neck position. The guitar sounds thinner -- and thinner seems better for the rhythm work. Sits nicely in the mix. Freddie Green never sound very bassy to me -- the unamplified archtop doesn't. The Yamaha is a little too thin on solos, but I don't get many in that band and I can add an octave-down to thicken it.

    I believe that some very fine players have brought solid bodies to big bands, including iirc, Bob Bain with the Tonight Show band and Lorne Lofsky (I heard first with Rob McConnell -- what a great band and what great guitar work). Not that I'm suggesting that Freddie should have played a Strat -- his sound was perfect.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    I believe that some very fine players have brought solid bodies to big bands, including iirc,[…] Lorne Lofsky (I heard first with Rob McConnell -- what a great band and what great guitar work)..
    Ed Bickert was the regular guitarist in Rob’s big band, The Boss Brass, and they also made some excellent duo recordings. Lorne has played in big bands - very convincingly, with thumbpick and fingers - but I’ve not heard him with Rob. Solid body guitars are great for more modern comping styles but I prefer archtops for traditional quarter-note swing rhythm.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pcjazz
    Ed Bickert was the regular guitarist in Rob’s big band, The Boss Brass, and they also made some excellent duo recordings. Lorne has played in big bands - very convincingly, with thumbpick and fingers - but I’ve not heard him with Rob. Solid body guitars are great for more modern comping styles but I prefer archtops for traditional quarter-note swing rhythm.
    Lorne was on an album called Don't Get Around Much Anymore. Great cover photo of a horn player, alone on a frozen lake. Boss Brass.

    Lorne is an example of a brilliant jazz player with a technique that I think would be immediately dismissed by most jazz guitar teachers. Wes was another.

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    excellent video !

    (I think all this videos from Winton Marsalys with the same "team" visiting the history of jazz music are really cool, all those great musicians playing together explaining many things are really good according to me)

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    James's expression is so funny. It doesn't get more geezy and pompous.