Recommend Joe Pass albums (non-solo)

[jazzuki]

Joe Pass Live in Hamburg.

[mikeSF]

Intercontinental is a winner!

[pkirk]

This week my 'car-cd' is Joe Pass's "Tudo Bem", that he recorded with Paulinho Da Costa.
(listen to samples here: Tudo Bem! - Joe Pass, Paulinho Da Costa : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic)

Actually, it's very un-typical for Joe Pass, but I like it a lot! It contains very smooth Brasilian Bossa Nova-jazz, a bit commercial even, but it's very relaxing to listen to and I love Joe's tone on this album! (As if he plays an ES-335?)

This is my favorite pass recording. Untypical for him, but very relaxed in a completely different setting. Not many people know this record. Now I have to go dust off the turntable and give it a spin...

[wintermoon]

besides what's been mentioned try one of the 'Quadrant' lps, on Pablo [Joe, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Mickey Roker]

another on Pablo, 'Skol' w/Stephan Grappelli, Oscar Peterson, NHOP and Mickey

one more on Pablo, 'Oscar Peterson @ The North Sea Festival [Joe, Oscar, NHOP, Toots Thielemans]

[abdke99]

Intercontinental is my fav... sound playing is amazing

[staush]

I think Portraits of Duke Ellington may be one of his best--it is certainly my favorite.

Another interesting album he did with Oscar Peterson: Porgy and Bess. Pass plays acoustic (no amp), Peterson plays the clavichord. Man, this album not only swings, it rocks! High intensity level. Defintitely worth a listen to. Of course, anything with Petersen and/or Pass is worth listening to . . .

[BirdSong]

Intercontinental

This and "Boss Guitar" by Wes are the two best jazz guitar albums ever made!

[monkmiles]

Eximous
The Giants
A Tribute to my Friends (Oscar Peterson)

I prefer his band playing over his solo playing.

[JayRivers]

Blues for Fred is a pretty laid back, less-frantic album. Although it is hard to find, I don't think it's on iTunes. Here's "Oh Lady be Good" off that album:

[gersdal]

Just curious...does anyone else out there prefer Joe Pass's band playing as opposed to his solo guitar stuff?

I probably do. Maybe I was listening sooo much to his solo stuff for too many years, so these days I do prefer his work with various bands and maybe my favourite the cd's with Ella Fitzgerald.

I'll check your recommendations. Thanks

[Petimar]

My favorite was the Capital Sessions live stuff with Joy Spring, the Night has a thousand eyes, etc

by the was did anyone but me think the old Real Book writing style that the title "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" looked like "The Meat Has A Thousand Eyes"???

[Greentone]

Wow! To-may-to, to-mah-to. It's fine not to like Joe Pass, but many (most?) guitarists are simply knocked out by Virtuoso and Virtuoso 4 (the same recording session, by the way). There is tremendous soul there, but it is all "bop." Bebop is not everyone's cup of tea. As far as tone goes, Virtuoso is the tone of the acoustic archtop--dry, little sustain, almost clinical. Some folks, particularly those who were raised on dreadnought guitars, don't seem to gravitate to the acoustic archtop sound. I can't get enough of it.

[gator811]

Another plug for Intercontinental - I bought it on vinyl in 1981 - its a great ,straight foray into chord melody and great trio playing. I managed to find it on CD on eBay for 20 bucks not long ago. Beautiful, transparent not too busy, Joe.

Check this out too - terrible recording - the Synanon band and Joe on a Jaguar..

[staush]

Joe Pass's album, Portraits of Duke Ellington" is one of my favorites. It is very representative of his work--it includes a couple of solo numbers as well as briliant interation with bass and drums. Because Ellington's music is so familiar, it makes it easier to "get" what Pass is doing.

[Lobomov]

I remember when taking lesson back in the day with one of the top dogs here in the city, while I was just getting into jazz, so we talked about what to listen to.

He said that Joe Pass was definitely not to be missed, so I asked him which album, too which he replied:

It doesn't matter, they're all basically the same.

[PoGSTAR]

Hmm I disagree. But it could be the sound of steel string that you are less keen on? I agree that Virtuoso is a showpiece which can be a bit flashy at times, designed to show off his technique and melodic mastery. I preferred 'Songs for Ellen' on which he plays a nylon string guitar. It is also more mature as it is near the end of his career (I believe it might have been the last album he recorded before he died?). It is the first Joe Pass album I ever heard, and it's still my favourite. I'm less keen on the band stuff hes done which sounds (to me) to be a bit run of the mill, but I am not into trad jazz.

I can also recommend unforgettable ... ironically, I've forgotten most of that album, but the recording of Stardust on that album is wonderful. It isn't his very best recording perhaps but it is just a wonderful arrangement of that song, beautifully played. If you only listen to one song my Joe Pass, for me, that one nicely sums him up I think.

Besides virtuoso, songs for Ellen, and Unforgettable, does anyone else have any good suggestions of albums by Joe in a similar vein?

[Greentone]

Here's a strange recommendation. If you want to see/hear JP at his best, check out In Concert 1991 on Vestapol. Just ignore Joe's tone. His Ibanez/Polytone sounds bleak and it gets steadily more out of tune as the concert goes on. However, the playing is masterful and you get to see it.

[PaulHintz]

+1 for Virtuoso (1 and 4) for the raw passion and amazing, energetic flow of ideas. I first heard #1 not too long after it came out. Still chasing that approach, but not, er, that sound...
+1 and more for Blues for Fred. Also, I Remember Charlie Parker, from about the same period. The ideas are more polished. The tone is, er, more listenable.The late period live recordings (such as Unforgettable) are, I think, better recorded than the Pablo stuff. Often a lovely (to these ears) guitar tone.
+1 for For Django if you want the ensemble-style. Great lines.
Just my 2cents, of course. For almost 40 years I've gone through cycles of listening to practically nothing but his solo recordings. Then I'll leave him alone for a year or more, and listen instead to players who care(d) about the actual sound of the instrument as much as the sounds/notes being played.... the, to me, classical guitarist aesthetic. I agree with the earlier post that it's that acoustic archtop nasal thing. You love it or you don't. But, really, some of those Pablo dates, and that Ibanez guitar...

[sgcim]

I like the stuff that pass did where he just played with his thumb, on a Carmen McRae LP.