Who's your favourite jazz blues player?

**DaveF** · 01-08-2014, 06:06 AM

I'm pretty new to jazz, but have been a long time lover of blues guitar music, new and old.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some players or albums where blues and jazz intersect?

I'm not as crazy about the fusion stuff, I like swing better.

One of my favs would be conversations in swing guitar by ellis/robillard, to give an idea of where I'm coming from.

**nick1994** · 01-08-2014, 06:37 AM

Kenny Burrell, Midnight blue is a great Jazz blues album, and he is a fantastic jazz blues guitarist.

**Pukka-J** · 01-08-2014, 01:56 PM

I like Grant Green. Very bluesy jazz player.

**fep** · 01-08-2014, 02:01 PM

**Swingster** · 01-08-2014, 04:04 PM

Lonnie Johnson

**jdaguitar2** · 01-09-2014, 11:37 AM

Wes Montgomery: The incredible jazz guitar (pretty much an education in itself)

**Sonnyboy** · 01-10-2014, 08:53 PM

I really like Kenny Burrell, but Grant Green is my favorite.

**pubylakeg** · 01-13-2014, 10:09 AM

Many great suggestions above.
The Blues is the heart of Jazz. Many great guitar players have The Blues at the core of their Jazz style eg. K. Burrell, Wes, G. Green & G. Benson. Some less so.
My suggestion for this thread is by Belgian giant Rene Thomas. Perhaps not synonymous as a Blues great. However, to sustain this amount of invention over so many choruses illustrates a true master at work.
I hope this post contributes to a wider recognition of this still under appreciated Jazz Guitar legend.

Best Wishes,
Puby

**princeplanet** · 01-13-2014, 11:35 AM

Kenny Burrell and Grant Green get mentioned a lot in these threads, but to me, they sound like kinda average blues players. Yes I know they had the ability to play more harmonically hip concepts, but they the fact that they didn't go there often makes me wonder why? Did they lack depth? Or did they really like the basic pentatonic/blues scale so much they wanted it to be their "thing"? There were more exciting blues guitarists in the 60's coming from the rock side of things. heck, even from England!

Having had a blues background myself, I can safely say that I could have worked out any KB or GG solo by the time I was 14. Certainly no big deal! Lotsa guys I knew could as well, and I'm sure you guys could say the same thing. And yeah, copying is easy compared with improvising in the style of those guys, but as a teenager it was a cinch to learn those very simple riffs and devices and play in the style of your fave player, and yes, even Hendrix - but without the tone and attitude of course!

-

So I will never get the love for KB and GG, just not Jazz enough for me, or something.... Sorry if this view offends some. Without going into the long list of post 70's players, I have to go along with those that prefer Wes, or even Benson, as jazz/blues players I love to listen to. Sure, we can all work out how to play Wes's solos note for note, BUT, I have never heard a single player who could improvise in the style of Wes. "Why would you wanna do that?" I hear you say. Well, probably for the same reason that every alto player wanted to sound like Bird in the 40's. I can name at least 12 players off the top of my head where I could play you a long snippet of their solos and you would be very hard pressed to tell the difference between Bird and the copy cat. Conclusion? Have never been sure, maybe horn players are just better musicians than guitar players, or maybe Parker was easier to copy than Wes was. GB you'd have to say, is also inimitable.

When it came to jazz/blues sax, many still say that Parker is still the king, slightly ahead of a busload of his imitators. But with jazz/blues guitar it seems different, at least to me. It's still Wes, then daylight, then Benson, then more daylight, then everyone else. And yep, Jazz or music in general is not a sport, so there are no absolutes. But permit me to feel that I absolutely personally prefer Wes and GB above all others, for soul, swing, sophistication, invention, elastic phrasing, passion, cool, burn or just "wow" factor, you name it. Bloody unfair if you ask me!.......

**princeplanet** · 01-13-2014, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by pubylakeg

Many great suggestions above.
The Blues is the heart of Jazz. Many great guitar players have The Blues at the core of their Jazz style eg. K. Burrell, Wes, G. Green & G. Benson. Some less so.
My suggestion for this thread is by Belgian giant Rene Thomas. Perhaps not synonymous as a Blues great. However, to sustain this amount of invention over so many choruses illustrates a true master at work.
I hope this post contributes to a wider recognition of this still under appreciated Jazz Guitar legend.

Best Wishes,
Puby

Thanks for posting, and yes, some nice lines and plenty of them! Would have liked it more if it was a little more "off the hip", you know, with some surprises or something unexpected, or funny, or sexy.... The way that Sonny Rollins played in the mid 50's, but then, not even Wes could play quite that way! .......

**bobby d** · 01-13-2014, 10:54 PM

What I like about K. Burrell: Phrasing, tone, smoothness, feel, unique use of double stops. He's not awesome like G. Benson, but his playing is pretty exciting at times. You know it's him when you hear him, unlike many jazz guitarists that lack that unique quality.

**sjl** · 01-15-2014, 01:54 PM

You can see Hall playing blues in his instruction dvd, but you are right Zoller was the blues man in that video.

**ledocs** · 02-03-2014, 02:50 PM

Emily Remler could improvise and sound exactly like Wes. Listen to her album with "Wes" in the title -- there may even be two such albums. I heard Remler being played on the radio in the San Francisco Bay Area more than once and thought that it was Wes.

On the other hand, I've never heard anyone sound exactly like Kenny Burrell, but you are the second person I have heard assert that nearly any competent guitarist could sound exactly like him after doing a bit of work. I can usually recognize Kenny's unique tone after two notes, at least the tone he was playing with for most of the 60's - 80's. I think he's been experimenting with different equipment more recently.

I'm going with Kenny as the undisputed king of jazz blues, but I've heard a few Joe Pass blues tracks that were fantastic. But I'm not saying that I don't like Scott Henderson, because I do, although I'm just getting into him. I just like the combination of tone, phrasing and overall *blues* feeling with Kenny. Putting this another way, to me Kenny Burrell is the standard in "jazz blues" guitar, he's the Robert Johnson of jazz blues guitar. Every single jazz guitarist in the world plays blues.

**nado64** · 02-07-2014, 04:43 AM

Nobody for Herb Ellis ?

**targuit** · 02-07-2014, 06:37 AM

My impressions. Just the other night I was playing through recordings and video clips of performances by Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. Much of their collaboration regarded quite bluesy material. Joe gets my vote as the most complete jazz guitarist who can play the blues.

Larry Carlton has a lot of that Texas blues in his veins. BB King is classic. Clapton can hang with them. But, these guys are not truly jazz players.

I'm a bit tired of the other Kings. Real blues guitar has the limitations of the genre.

**DaveF** · 02-07-2014, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by targuit

My impressions. Just the other night I was playing through recordings and video clips of performances by Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. Much of their collaboration regarded quite bluesy material. Joe gets my vote as the most complete jazz guitarist who can play the blues.

Another vote for Joe Pass as the most complete jazz blues player.

**nick1994** · 02-07-2014, 08:02 AM

certainly agree on Joe Pass, he was more than competent in blues. A true master.

**sjl** · 02-07-2014, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by nado64

Nobody for Herb Ellis ?

You're totally right! What a terrible omission!

**TOMMO** · 07-26-2017, 10:32 AM

Lots of blues to be found on most players' albums. "Midnight Blue" by Kenny Burrell and "Nothing But The Blues" by Herb Ellis are just two albums to lean more towards blues and blues sounds. Definitely check out Grant Green - his approach and guitar tone may appeal to you as a blues lover.

**destinytot** · 07-26-2017, 10:47 AM

Great thread idea - thanks, and well done! Looking forward to enjoying others' recommendations.

Here's one from me - riff city:

**destinytot** · 07-26-2017, 10:49 AM

Another:

**joe2758** · 07-26-2017, 03:28 PM

Jimmy Smith man!

**docbop** · 07-26-2017, 05:22 PM

check out organist Jimmy Smith albums he played a lot of Blues and Funky Jazz and had Wes Montgomry, Kenny Burrell, later George Benson on one, and other guitarist thru the years. Going to hear Jimmy Smith live with Phil Upchurch on guitar is what made me a Jazz lover.

**wolflen** · 07-26-2017, 06:33 PM

second the jimmy smith/kenny burrell team..to me it was burrell at his best..smith was know to push his players..but Kenny did more than just keep up..