Joe Pass

[AndyV]

I love Joe's feel on this cut from his later career. The way he plays with the time for a languid tropical feel is awesomely great (as is Pisano's comping). Plus Joe's mastery of slurs - so musical compared to players like McLaughlin who tend to pick every note.

[wolflen]

I consider Joe to be the gold standard of jazz guitar-in playing standards...I often wonder..what did he create of his own work..some time I would see a gleem in his eye and imagine Joe with a strat and a marshall stack..making steve vai blush..

[jameslovestal]

One album that I think captures something about Joe Pass that is hard to describe but that I love is Appassionato. First of all, the tunes! Some are very well known, but others are rescued from obscurity like "Red Door" or "That's Earl, Brother" or "Stuffy" alongside some others that are more familiar but still not too shopworn. The familiar tunes are played with a panache that I find exhilarating: "Relaxin at Camarillo," "Nica's Dream" stand out.

On top of all this, it's played entirely on an acoustic archtop, an old Epiphone, and every tune has a relentless swing that makes it impossible for me to play the album without stopping what I'm doing and just listening.

The fact that Joe could do an album like this, right along side his usual solo work, as well as his quartet playing (here and "Summer Nights"), and that he could do it with the swing and swagger needed, is exciting.

Apassionato is also the Pass recording I listen to the most and I typically would rather hear a guitar player play with a piano providing the harmony than another guitar player.

I also love Tudo Bem because Pass is playing in a more relax setting, with a Latin sound with backing by Brazilian guitar player Oscar Castro-Neves and percussionist Paulinho da Costa. (but hey I love Jobin tunes). Pass' bebop sound bends in really well with the Latin beats. Great music to do housework too!

[mwcarr]

I came to jazz guitar after about 10 years of rock/ folk. I was studying with Dick Lurie in Cleveland, learning theory and sight reading. What a great teacher and friend. Anyway, he introduced me to two guitarists I still highly admire. Joe Pass with Ella and George Barnes with Ruby Braff To this day I never tire of the albums of Joe with Ella. None of Joe's solo stuff ever moved me like his comping with Ella. Complete, musical and so sensitive to what she was doing.

[mrcee]

I stumbled into this

[mrcee]

I stumbled into this

[jameslovestal]

I came to jazz guitar after about 10 years of rock/ folk. I was studying with Dick Lurie in Cleveland, learning theory and sight reading. What a great teacher and friend. Anyway, he introduced me to two guitarists I still highly admire. Joe Pass with Ella and George Barnes with Ruby Braff To this day I never tire of the albums of Joe with Ella. None of Joe's solo stuff ever moved me like his comping with Ella. Complete, musical and so sensitive to what she was doing.

One of my first concerts featured two great acts, the first being the Oscar Peterson Trio with Joe Pass and Orsted Pedersen.

The second was Ella with the Jimmy Rowles Trio. After a few songs Joe came out to make it a quartet.

What a concert!

[Doctor Jeff]

Wow--that JP GR700 video is something. I'm glad Joe wasn't too taken with it--not his style at all.

[AndyV]

Imagine if you go into a music store to buy a few picks and the guy noodling in the corner is Joe Pass! Glad somebody had a camera.

[destinytot]

I stumbled into this

Great stuff!

I stumbled on this clip - @3:20 John Williams and Joe Pass jam on some Bach (to illustrate a point at a guitar workshop in Adelaide):

[lawson-stone]

Great stuff!

I stumbled on this clip - @3:20 John Williams and Joe Pass jam on some Bach (to illustrate a point at a guitar workshop in Adelaide):

Joe Pass truly was The Master.

[NSJ]

Joe Pass truly was The Master.

I'm convinced that the secret to his mastery was his genuine humility. Every time to get together with my teacher, he would always demand that he play some classical guitar and Joe would just sit back and listen and state , " Man, what you play is true Art and when I play is bullshit ". He Absolutely loved the sound of nylon guitar playing the classical repertoire .

Apparently, from what I heard, it wasn't till the last years of his life when he was battling cancer that Joe realized that he was truly giving a gift to share to the world.

We can all learn from such genuine humility. By comparison, when you hear that, no one has a right to be a braggart .

[destinytot]

I'm convinced that the secret to his mastery was his genuine humility. Every time to get together with my teacher, he would always demand that he play some classical guitar and Joe would just sit back and listen and state , " Man, what you play is true Art and when I play is bullshit ". He Absolutely loved the sound of nylon guitar playing the classical repertoire .

Apparently, from what I heard, it wasn't till the last years of his life when he was battling cancer that Joe realized that he was truly giving a gift to share to the world.

We can all learn from such genuine humility. By comparison, when you hear that, no one has a right to be a braggart .

I know that Joe Pass's encouragement meant a lot to bebop guitarist Sean Levitt.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I was set to go grab a seat at a gig of his in Ojai shortly before he died, but got called in to work and, needing the scrilla, went there instead.

Still regret it.

I'll never get to that level of playing, but he -- along with Wes, Jimi, Django, and a few others I could name but won't in the interest of brevity -- he gave me not only music (a rich enough gift!), but inspiration. Indeed, even today started working on a song that's been bubbling in my head after hearing his take on "Autumn Leaves" again.

Thanks again, Joe. You lit a torch for a lot of us.

[Veritas]

Funny, the world of jazz guitarists and musicians. I just spent some time this evening listening to an interview of Rich Severson with two great guitarists - Ron Anthony and Barry Zweig. Both of these guys have big time credentials. Ron played with many jazz greats including touring for years with George Shearing and Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and many others. Barry played with Buddy Rich's band, Sammy Davis, Jr., and many other 'stars'. These guys were telling stories from their youth and careers and about their musician friends, including Joe Pass , Wes Montgomery, and Charlie Christian. For anyone interested you can just put those names into the YT search and find the video or I can link it if you wish.

Ron Anthony knew Joe well and described him a "complex guy". It was clear from both Ron and Barry that Joe was the guy to emulate.
But these guys all played at a high professional level.

[lawson-stone]

I'm convinced that the secret to his mastery was his genuine humility. Every time to get together with my teacher, he would always demand that he play some classical guitar and Joe would just sit back and listen and state , " Man, what you play is true Art and when I play is bullshit ". He Absolutely loved the sound of nylon guitar playing the classical repertoire .

Apparently, from what I heard, it wasn't till the last years of his life when he was battling cancer that Joe realized that he was truly giving a gift to share to the world.

We can all learn from such genuine humility. By comparison, when you hear that, no one has a right to be a braggart .

Joe's exact thought was that only in the last years, during his illness, he realized that his music was a gift God had given him and he regretted that he had not acknowledged that until so late. He said this in a video interview and clearly discomfited the interviewer... there's even an edit in the clip at precisely that point. He also said that to me personally in a letter I still own.

[Doctor Jeff]

Great stuff!

I stumbled on this clip - @3:20 John Williams and Joe Pass jam on some Bach (to illustrate a point at a guitar workshop in Adelaide):

Is that Paco de Lucia on the left? I'd really love to hear Paco jamming with Joe!

Joe did write and record this homage to Paco, which is on Virtuoso #3:

[destinytot]

Is that Paco de Lucia on the left? I'd really love to hear Paco jamming with Joe!

Joe did write and record this homage to Paco, which is on Virtuoso #3:

Paco Peña appears earlier in the clip, and I assume that's also him - but perhaps someone knows for sure.

[destinytot]

We can all learn from such genuine humility. By comparison, when you hear that, no one has a right to be a braggart .

There's a great scene in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels where Freddy 'remembers' his 'Gram-Gram', who was the one that taught him that 'It is better to be truthful and good than to not'.

We can also learn what not to do, eg. hero worship. The clip of Joe in the guitar store, on the other hand...

[lawson-stone]

Paco Peña appears earlier in the clip, and I assume that's also him - but perhaps someone knows for sure.

I think it's Paco Peña. Joe told me there was one player in the group who had to be replaced, but I don't recall which.

[destinytot]

Imagine if you go into a music store to buy a few picks and the guy noodling in the corner is Joe Pass! Glad somebody had a camera.

What a find! (Formidable dexterity and poise aside) love the candour here:

JP: "What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear something?"
Customer: "Green Dolphin Street."
JP: "I don't like that tune."

[Veritas]

In that clip including John Williams, Paco Pena, and Joe, I am a little surprised that Joe was not terribly familiar with the Chaconne. Even Joe struggled just a bit because he did not really know the melody. Not being critical here - just noting the importance of knowing the melody to improvising even extemporaneously. One must note that Williams kept repeating just the first eight measures or so of the Chaconne rather than playing more of the actual piece.

However well intended in the context of the 'seminar' discussion, I actually think that John putting Joe on the spot like that was a little uncomfortable and not a great idea, in part because in a classical piece the melody is so integral to the integrity of the piece meshed with the counterpart harmony that it does not really lend itself to improvisation like jazz chord changes. Of course, Joe resolved the discomfort with a bit of his humor which helped.

[lawson-stone]

In that clip including John Williams, Paco DeLucia and Joe, I am a little surprised that Joe was not terribly familiar with the Chaconne. Even Joe struggled just a bit because he did not really know the melody. Not being critical here - just noting the importance of knowing the melody to improvising even extemporaneously. One must note that Williams kept repeating just the first eight measures or so of the Chaconne rather than playing more of the actual piece.

Joe Pass never needed to know the Chaconne in the first place. He likely encountered it very young when he was learning from the Carcassi method book.

Imagine if John Williams had tried to follow Joe on "Giant Steps" or "Joy Spring?"

Train Wreck.

[Veritas]

Well, in point of fact the Carcassi method books don't contain any reference to the Chaconne, though I do understand your point. I agree that Joe would not necessarily be familiar with the Chaconne in the course of his professional life, but I thought he might have been familiar with some of the classical guitar repertoire, not as performance based but as casual listening.

You probably know that John Williams played in a contemporary "jazz" group briefly early in his career, a band named Sky. John has often admitted that improvisation was not really his thing. "Although Williams is best known as a classical guitarist, he has explored many different musical genres. Between 1978 and 1984 he was a member of the fusion group Sky." - Wikipedia

I'm sure if Williams were to try to improvise over Joy Spring, 'train wreck' would be an appropriate description.

[grahambop]

Actually I would imagine they chose the Chaconne because it essentially follows the same template over and over again, with variations. So a bit like jazz really.