What Kind of Player Are You?

[Tom Karol]

Everything I do is jazz influenced, in that all of it emphasizes improvisation – I simply can’t help it – and features a lot of jazz-inflected phrasing. But I don’t consider myself a pure jazz guitarist at all. My repetoire and what I enjoy playing is very eclectic: Jazz, Blues, Country, Folk, 50’s & 60’s rock, 70’s singer/songwriter stuff, Reggae, and a smattering of classical themes. Even though my favorite guitarist is Howard Roberts, and Attila Zoller was a mentor, and I’ve copped more than a few George Benson licks, I don’t sound anything like any of them – I always seem to sound like me, for better or worse. When I really think about it, I keep coming back to the same thing: the ‘famous’ guitarist I sound the most like soloing in a Jazz context seems to be Herb Ellis. While I do admire and respect his playing, I wouldn’t have ranked him in my personal top ten in terms of guitarists I’ve consciously tried to emulate. I’m totally comfortable with it, but it’s weird just the same. What about you?

[mr. beaumont]

i teach a lot of different styles, so i need to keep my chops up in a few different areas, but as far as gigging, listening, and just laying for enjoyment it's all jazz. that's what i love.

as far as who i sound like, that's a little trickier...ideally, i'd like to say "me" but i know there's some influences present...most of what i gig is pretty straight ahead, standards and classic jazz tunes stuff, and my biggest influences in those categories (speaking guitar-wise)are jimmy raney and grant green for single note playing, jim hall and ed bickert for chording.

if anything, i'd like to play the guitar like bill evans plays the piano, but i'l settle for being that guy you know who can play a few hundred songs from memory...i'm not there yet, but i'm getting there.

[nado64]

I listen jazz, I like playing jazz, I dream about a jazz life.

But my friends doesn't know jazz. When I go out, I don't dance the swing with girls, so my influences are many.

I know a lot of pop songs and ferias traditionnals(ex : paquito chocalatero), for playing quickly with somebody that I don't know musically.
Alone, I enjoy playing some classicals themes with a jazz feeling.

For jazz guitar, I like Guitarists with a blues sound. Grant Green and Kenny Burrell are my teachers.
I like the Jim Hall's comping on the Pauls Desmond's recordings, particularly "Glad to be unhappy".
I listen a lot of Miles Davis, before the electric era.

[cosmic gumbo]

I try to absorb a little of everything, bluegrass, manouche, Hawaiian, sludge, dixie, rock, west african, polka, mariachi, doom, folk, middle eastern,reggae, the usual stuff. I try to mostly sound like electric Derek Bailey, but most folks say I sound like Roy Clark.

[musicalbodger]

I try to mostly sound like electric Derek Bailey

Now, that's a hard road to follow — and a brave man to try .

I always find it interesting what you here when you're playing and what others hear, or what you then here on a recording. Never quite match up somehow

[derek]

Is lousy an acceptable answer?

[TieDyedDevil]

My influences are varied. I usually cite classical music (thanks to having grown up in family of classical musicians) and `60s through mid-`70s folk-rock, surf, pop, psychedelic and progressive rock. My earliest exposure to jazz was through some of the fusion artists of the `70s, in particular John McLaughlin and John Abercrombie. I began to make a conscious effort to "appreciate" jazz beginning eight or nine years ago, and have made some progress.

My interest in jazz has been more to expand my musical horizons than to learn the jazz canon. When I picked up the guitar in 1999, following a twenty-year layoff, I realized very quickly that I'd need to learn more about music in general and about my instrument in particular in order to remain challenged and become creative.

I took three terms of a jazz improvisation workshop at my local community college. The classes were instructive, fun and challenging. However, I really don't have much love for "the standards". Most of that has to do with familiarity: I simply didn't grow up listening to a lot of the jazz classics. I had fun playing the ones that I recognized.

Although I've always leaned toward cleaner guitar sounds, I do experiment with effects and looping from time to time. Reverb is pretty much a constant, mostly because I like the sense of playing in a larger space.

For the past five years I've been focusing on improvised solo guitar. Two years ago I also started playing with a trio. There's a lot of cross-pollination between the two projects.

I ditched the plectrum several years ago and now play exclusively fingerstyle (with rare exceptions when I experiment with MIDI guitar).

Listeners have compared my style to John Abercrombie, Terje Rypdal, Bill Frisell, Steve Kimock and others. While I find these comparisons very flattering, and recognizing that there may be a grain of truth in some, I've always felt that such comparisons say more about the listener than about my playing.

[patskywriter]

i play strictly rhythm: jazz (with walking bass line), brasilian, and salsa/tropical.

[wizard3739]

Much like Mr B, My guitar influences are Jimmy Raney, Doug Raney & Howard Roberts for solo lines and Jim Hall, Barry Galbraith & Ed Bickert are my favorite chord masters but Howard roberts could easily fit into both categories. I listen more to Bill Evans, Paul desmond, Sonny Stitt, Chet Baker and early Miles Davis / John Coltrane lines when I want to transcribe something really nice. While I don't have a favorite musician, I guess I listen more to Bill Evans than anyone else.

wiz

[mr. beaumont]

Much like Mr B, My guitar influences are Jimmy Raney, Doug Raney & Howard Roberts for solo lines and Jim Hall, Barry Galbraith & Ed Bickert are my favorite chord masters but Howard roberts could easily fit into both categories. I listen more to Bill Evans, Paul desmond, Sonny Stitt, Chet Baker and early Miles Davis / John Coltrane lines when I want to transcribe something really nice. While I don't have a favorite musician, I guess I listen more to Bill Evans than anyone else.

wiz

wiz, man, if you're ever in chicago, we gotta at least grab a beer.

[wizard3739]

You got it Mr. B! If I ever get to Chicago again, I will definitely look you up to spend some happy time with my musical soul brother. I worked for Northrop in Chicago (before I retired) for about 5 months back in 1993. It is a great music town.

wiz

[mangotango]

Well, I've played in blues bands for a long time, as well as always having jazz in the background then. So it will be no surprise that, like nado64, I sit in the comfortable chair between Kenny Burrell and Grant Green.

However, I would answer the question in one word; "struggling"!! I'm finding it very difficult to keep up with all of the information required to improve at the same time as trying to hold down a stressful day job and be a good father to two teenage kids. Priorities, y'know?

[Goofsus4]

Right now, I am focused exclusively on solo-guitar, chord melody style arrangements of anything that sounds good to me. It doesn't have to be a jazz standard although, of course, it sounds jazzy when I'm through because of the passing chords, subs and alterations I use. No pick - finger style only, played on a nylon string classical. I've been playing about six years or so now, and I've tried just about every style I think. But this style is just so musical and beautiful, that I think I'm going to settle in here and work hard on building a repertoire for a while.

I think the perfect expression of guitar for me would be the Joe Pass Virtuoso thing. Of course, I'll never get to that level, but I'm just saying that's where my head is right now.

[djangoles]

I'm not a jazz guitarist per se, but god knows I've listened to it non-stop for about 15 years thinking I may become one someday!!! Anyway a very close friend of mine who happens to be the most talented all around musician I've ever met... (if you watch any TV, I guarantee you'll hear his music in a show, commerical, or movie trailer) ...said to me the other day after not hearing me play for almost 10 years, "You sound like Danny Gatton, Adrian Belew, Greg Ginn (Black Flag), and Nookie Edwards (The Ventures) all in one song!!!!

Now I can say I've listened to all of them at one point, but I would have never thought them as being a big influence on my playing. Well anyway it could be worse. I've had other people say I sound like Clapton!!!! That's one guitarist I've never been into!!! So go figure.

[bkdavidson]

Does struggling hack count as an answer? But seriously, I feel very 'jack-of-all-trades, master of none.' My performance degree is for classical, I studied with every university-level jazz teacher I could find while in college, grew up on metal, and always find myself playing in funk/R&B style bands. Right now I freelance mostly and will play anything I'm asked to.

I can convince classical people I play classical, my jazz playing has been described as "tasty," probably due to my lack of real jazz chops but enough musical common sense to play within my means. On a gig with a motown band once, I was told I sounded like "Steely Dan." I'm not sure if that means I play like Larry Carlton or what. I don't really hear the resemblance, but I'll take it. I enjoy his playing.

[P.J.]

I'm not a jazz guitarist per se, but god knows I've listened to it non-stop for about 15 years thinking I may become one someday!!! Anyway a very close friend of mine who happens to be the most talented all around musician I've ever met... (if you watch any TV, I guarantee you'll hear his music in a show, commerical, or movie trailer) ...said to me the other day after not hearing me play for almost 10 years, "You sound like Danny Gatton, Adrian Belew, Greg Ginn (Black Flag), and Nookie Edwards (The Ventures) all in one song!!

That is some serious mix!!

I like to think I have a similar kind of melange going. I dig jazz/rock/country and experimental stuff. I like reverb and clean guitar and odd textures and noise. Kind of an Ed Bickert/Albert Lee/Robert Fripp thing w/ a smidge of Reeves Gabrels and Vernon Reid thrown in for good measure.

=-) PJ

[BEACHBUM]

I'm a Blues player who wants to Jazz it up a little and a Country picker trying to get a handle on Western Swing. And of course, being a child of the 60's, there is all of that as well.

[amusiathread]

Well, I'm definitely a guitarist, but I have a hard time pinning myself down to anything genre-specific. I just love music, and I listen to a huge range of it (classical is my first love, then chord melody, gypsy jazz, New Orleans, rock, progressive metal, fusion, New Age). I see jazz only as a tool, a medium to convey certain moods and make some cool sounds. I would become very bored if I played only jazz (even if I were much better at it). I like the freedom of just being a guitarist without the genre designation.

[JazzinNY]

I started with Classical many years ago, then abandoned it as too restrictive. Unable to learn jazz, I just really "noodled" for decades but I did enjoy it (mostly while watching TV).

3-4 yrs ago I found a method to learn folk/pop chords (Steve McKay) and had a lot of fun going down the singer/songwriter path. I still do that some, performing at open mikes. Along the way I restarted with classical and now enjoy it a lot.

Last December I found enough info on the web to get started formally learning jazz, which was great because it's what I wanted all along. My influences are equally fusion and post-bop, hard bop, funky "Blue Note Records" type players -- Blakey, Lee Morgan, Green, etc. And I like a singing, sustained electric guitar sound closer to fusion than the traditional jazz sound.

My goal is to get better for a while on my own, then get a teacher(s), and ultimately form a quartet with a horn player.

[jazzkatten]

I'm a jazz player, but I have a lot of influences from other styles as Blues, Classical, Rock, Hard Rock etc ...

[Gerard45]

I play namely Bossa Nova's.

[Atticus]

I'm a blues and soul player masquerading as a jazz cat. I listen to almost everything: classical, jazz, funk, blues, rock, metal, pop, hip-hop, country (though not as much of the last two, but some). I love the intellectual side of jazz players and really enjoy chord-melody playing because I like playing the whole song myself, but if I had to pick one style of guitar for the rest of my life, it'd be the sounds coming out of Stax, Sun, and Motown.

And hey, even my hero Steve Cropper can still kick back on a jazz standard.

[newsense]

I aspire to occupy the space betweeen John Scofield, Bireli Lagrene and Allen Hinds, but end up playing more like Mr Bean.

[eddy b.]

I got into guitar because I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan Live...which lead me to the King's and John Lee Hooker, then I saw Steve Morse live which lead to Allan Holdsworth and John Scofield, then I saw Bill Frisell Live which lead to Bartok and Anthony Braxton, then I moved to New Orleans and Saw Rebirth Brass Band Live which saved my soul from eternal damnation...now I am obsessed with Ed Bickert, George Van Epps, Barney Kessel an George Benson not to mention John Williams(the guitarist)I love that the guitar is infinite and the journey never ends!!

[jsorell]

I play namely Bossa Nova's.

Gerard, Is your blog still up? I visited earlier today. I just tried again but get a message stating I don't have permission... Thanks, John Sorell Bellevue, Washington