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jim hall played a black les paul he bought from ron benson (howard roberts bud and later of benson amps) when he first got to hollywood .. played it with the chico hamilton quintet...on his eariest recordings
he soon after traded the lp to howard roberts for hr's es-175..that es-175 was used by hall for over 20 years and is on all his iconic early works
here's the es-175 when it was still in howard roberts hands
btw thats bobby troup (route 66) with hr..he was married to julie london..who's big record around that time was cry me a river...with barney kessel
it all goes round....
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-24-2016 at 09:23 PM. Reason: gr-
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07-24-2016 08:44 PM
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Great history, thanks for sharing, neatomic! It had Gibson guitars, friendship and – last but not least – Julie London! She is great!
Can You tell when was That ES175 made?
And where did You learn this, is there some definite biography about Hall?
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That's also the same Bobby Troup and Julie London who appeared each week on "Emergency!" in the 1970s.
London had also been married to Jack Webb, star of "Dragnet" and producer of "Emergency!"
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I have read 1954.
Originally Posted by Herbie
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Here's the tone of which you speak (Jim Hall & his ES-175):
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Yes, I remember that series.
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before jack webb went "law & order" via shows like dragnet, adam-12 & emergency..he was a badass smokin coronet playin' jazzer...long time webb radio show, then film-pete kelly's blues Originally Posted by Greentone
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-24-2016 at 10:58 PM.
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George Van Eps on guitar behind Webb.
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Jim Hall was one of the famous jazz musicians often visiting the loft of legendary photographer W. Eugene Smith and highly gifted pianist, arranger and instructor Hall Overton in the flower district, NYC, between 1957 and 1965. During this time, Smith took many photographs of the musicians, also of Jim Hall and close-ups of his ES-175, and recorded hours of music on tapes. That's the best jazz: music that comes from the soul - jazz after hours.
The Jazz Loft Project book contains some pics of Jim with his ES-175. On their website you can also listen to a Savoy recording with Art Farmer (track 10): ::The Jazz Loft Project:: SOUNDS .
'821 Sixth Avenue' with its amalgam of different art forms (music, painting, photography, literature, etc.) was an immensely prolific place for the jazzers, similar to the 'Five Spot' after 1957.
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I saw Jim Hall play the ES-175 in a club just before he switched to the D'Aquisto. I noticed it had blocks in the fingerboard, like an L5. I asked him about that and he said that he had Jimmy D'Aquisto replace the fingerboard. I am pretty sure the pickup had been changed at that time as well. I think it had a Guild humbucking pickup in it. Maybe someone else can confirm these changes. Next time I saw him, he was playing the D'Aquisto and I never saw the 175 again.
Keith
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Jim switched from the ES-175 to a custom hollowbody made by D'Aquisto?
Well, then the following (under)statement by Jim must be one of those internal contradictions that almost every person carries around, more or less unconsciously:
"I know it’s a guitar when I see it. That’s about it. I have very little connection to the actual instrument. When traveling, I’ve gotten to the point where I just check the electric thing through—I have a super-case—because it’s gotten so complicated traveling. And it’s disappeared a couple of times overnight. So I just sort of try and separate myself from it; it’s a piece of wood—I can get another guitar. It’s not my dog or my wife."
The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. - Oscar Wilde
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That is one of my all-time favorite quotes. I use it as a sig on another site.
It's not a contradiction to me. Jim Hall knew great gear -- heck, he commissioned at least two D'Aquistos and the Sadowsky at the end. But he didn't let the gear overtake the music. The point of the Sadowsky guitar was that traveling with D'Aquistos was getting impractical so he found something practical to make music with.
Mr. Hall was a modern, contemporary player. He used pedals. He led and recorded a band with a synthesizer player. He could play plenty o' fast. He did whatever the music needed. Above all, he chose to play with the very best "youngsters" around. No moss grew on Jim Hall!
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+1 Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
Hall was all of these things. The man had BIG ears and a HUGE sense of musicality. He was consistently the most surprising and engrossing of jazz guitarists of that generation, IMO.
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Sorry, if I spoke a bit tongue-in-cheek above; without this... life could be taken too serious! Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
For me, Jim was not only one of the master guitar players of all time, but also a great and unassuming human being.
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the reason why jim H replaced his es-175 was because after 20 years he felt it too delicate and valuable to him to continue travelling with it...as jimmy D was his luthier...and had already done numerous repairs to it..(remember Jimmy D was a working guy...it's only recently he's seen as some kind of great untouchable artist with guitars priced accordingly) it was a natural for jimmy to make him one.... i believe jim had a total of three
so no big leap for jim..rather very common sense...doin business with a trusted friend
jim also changed from his beloved gibson ga-50t amp for the same reason..became too precious to travel with
cheers
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This is a tune from "Jazz Impressions of Japan". One of my all time favorite Jim Hall records. 4/5 of the songs on the release are original Jim Hall compositions.
First side of the record has intense moments.
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The point about Jimmy D'Aquisto being a working man is a very good point. Many of the best luthiers in the US, ever, (Loar, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto, the Stathopoulo brothers, Stromberg, etc.) were working (class) men. They were only endowed with the mystic qualities of Tibetan monks after their deaths. They certainly didn't see themselves as magicians, nor their guitars as the consequences of magic--just tried and true craftsmanship plus some innovation.
Most of them did great repair work as bread and butter activity in addition to their custom building. Candelario Delgado, designer and builder of Candelas classical guitars once repaired a classical guitar for me for $3.00 (early 60s). This was the sort of thing that great luthiers did.
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Uh, it is this "too valuable" and "too precious" matter that somehow seems to contradict Jim's own feeling on his attitude towards guitars, as cited in post #11. Originally Posted by neatomic
Jimmy D'Aquisto about his friend Jim Hall: "All the other guys buy my guitars as an investment, and then they lock them up in their basement. Jim actually takes his on the gig and makes music with it." (Jazz Articles: Jim Hall: The Emperor of Cool - By Chip Stern ? Jazz Articles )
The same source cites Jim on the Avant Garde model made for him by Jimmy: "Jimmy came over one time and he gave me this thing. He said, ‘Here’s a guitar.’ And I said, ‘Jimmy, you can’t give me a guitar; you can only make like five or six a year—this is ridiculous.’ So I gave him one back, an old D’Aquisto which I think I paid like fifteen hundred bucks for years ago, and he sold it for quite a bit of money. So he gave me this, and then after he died the price of this thing, because of collectors, just went through the roof. It’s almost like he played a joke on me."
It's a well-known fact that it's the guitars that pick out the players - not vice versa, like some still are believing!
Joking, kidding and speaking tongue-in-cheek is always welcome! And in contrast to horn players we can do the latter even while playing...
The guitar is still a mystery to me. - Jim HallLast edited by Ol' Fret; 07-25-2016 at 12:43 PM.
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I wish there was a way to find out what amp he used on the "Live!" recordings with Terry Clark an Don Thompson.
I'm pretty sure he had not started playing his D'Aquisto yet.
Does anyone else have the live Artists Share set with three discs? Packed full of mind-blowing performances from that same week in Toronto.
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Jim Hall used his Gibson GA-50 amp for years until he switched to a Polytone MiniBrute in the late-70s. Most of his stuff was done in the studio with the Gibson. About five years ago he sold the Gibson amp, IIRC. The price was not for the faint of heart, but not outrageous either. I thought about it. I just didn't need another amp. Joke's on me--I've built or bought about six since then.
Odds are high that the "Live" album you speak of was done with a MiniBrute II.
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i very carefully chose my words..."felt it too delicate and valuable to him to continue travelling with it." Originally Posted by Ol' Fret
valuable to him!!..not assigning any monetary/collecting status to them
there's a difference between realizing your equipment is a tool for your own creativity, and maintaining a zen like distance from it..and willingly putting old and faithful gear in harms way..that just wreckless!
cheers
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Ive got the vinyl version of the Live album and I'm pretty sure he's holding a D'Aquisto on the front cover. Originally Posted by jbucklin
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he is, but it's an acoustic D'Aquisto, iirc. Originally Posted by BigToe
record cover photos don't always reveal what equipment was used on a particular session.
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Why are you thinking that I spoke of monetary/collecting value? Originally Posted by neatomic
If someone says about his gear " ...it’s a piece of wood—I can get another guitar. It’s not my dog or my wife", I can see not much emotional attachment. So, if your worn ES-175 doesn't do it for you any longer, and you think your musical creativity depends on these guitars, just walk to the next shop and get a new one. Or make an upgrade to a D'Aquisto, if this looks like an improvement. No problem here with such a mindset.
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Yeah, that's the first D'Aquisto (acoustic) that Jim had Jimmy build for him. The second one was the single pick up model that was more or less a copy of Jim's modded 175. Originally Posted by BigToe
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