Jazz on classical guitar

[DaveRoberts]

I'm learning jazz on a classical guitar, which I think is the perfect marriage of classical guitar's tone/expressiveness and jazz's musical freedom. So my favorite players include Gene Bertoncini, Ralph Towner, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd.

But other than those giants, I'm not familiar with any others playing jazz on a classical guitar. Does anyone know of others worth checking out?

It's a shame that there isn't more crossover. Very few classical guitarists attempt improvisation and very few jazz guitarists play non-electric. Or am I wrong?

[sgosnell]

Nate Najar.

[WillMbCdn5]

Paco de Lucia comes to mind although more flamenco styled . John McLaughlin's duets with Katia Labeque where he played a nylon string are my favorite pieces of all his work. Two Sisters is a personal fav to explore

Al DiMeola certainly worked with a nylon string. Sylvain Luc often uses a nylon string . Joe Pass recorded full albums with a nylon string. He has a beautiful version of Shadow of your Smile on nylon string I am currently learning.

And then there is Nelson Veras)

I think most jazz folks move back and forth between nylon and either arch top or electric depending on the subject matter and treatment. There are some jazz tunes that just lend themselves beautifully to a combined fingerstyle/chord melody/nylon string tone IMHO so why not use one . Go for it

Will

[DaveRoberts]

Thanks, I hadn't heard of him. He's doing a nice job on "Triste" here.

[Cunamara]

Romero Lubambo. Earl Klugh. There's at least one album of Joe Pass playing nylon string.

And don't overlook the original (as far as I know, anyway) nylon string jazz guitarist with a classical approach, Bill Harris. He studied with Sophocles Papas like a number of other jazz guitarists.

[rpjazzguitar]

Chico Pinheiro is a monster playing jazz on nylon. But, recently, I've only heard him playing a steel string Benedetto. I think there are youtube videos of him on nylon.

Joao Bosco might be worth checking out, more for comping than soloing (I can't recall hearing him solo).

[Robertkoa]

Yamandu Costa - a Virtuoso on Nylon with full Classical/Flamenco technique playing Jazz and Brazilian Jazz or anything he wants I assume.

[Jazzstdnt]

Romero Lubambo and Trio da Paz

[zdub]

Almost all Brazilian (and similar style) guitarists...

[AndyV]

[grahambop]

A bit of Googling uncovered Ken Hatfield who I had not heard of before:

[DaveRoberts]

Thanks, Robertkoa, for the Yamandu Costa video link -- he's a monster. I should have included him in my list of favorites as I recently saw him in San Francisco and he blew the lid off the joint.

[grahambop]

Eric Hill is a classical guitarist who plays jazz. On his website he has some nice downloads available:

Eric Hill

[DaveRoberts]

Eric Hill is a classical guitarist who plays jazz. On his website he has some nice downloads available:

Eric Hill

Thanks. Very tasteful player with a great tone. This is the style I'm shooting for.

[Jabberwocky]

Eric Skye plays jazz on a deep-bodied 00-sized Santa Cruz steel string acoustic guitar. His approach could carry over to nylon.

My opinion is that a flamenco negra or blanca is the best nylon string for playing jazz on: flamenco strings are generally lower in tension; lower string action; more percussive sound with a fast attack and fast decay of notes. Flamenco is often a very fast music so the guitar is eminently suitable for fast jazz tempi.

That said, I would love to get me hands on a Kirk Sand Richard Smith model. Kirk Sand makes wonderful nylon string crossovers.

If you have an 00 or 000 sized acoustic steel string you could use high tension classical guitar fluorocarbon strings on it for the classical guitar string flavour. Diamond Rosette String Ties act as ball-ends so you could string up an acoustic steel string with classical guitar strings.

[grahambop]

Thanks. Very tasteful player with a great tone. This is the style I'm shooting for.

Yes he’s been around a long time but I haven’t really heard him much before, now possible thanks to the internet.

This thread is inspiring me to try some solo jazz classical guitar - I was classically trained, so I should be up to it!

[Robertkoa]

Yamandu Costa is probably the Niagara Falls of Solo Guitarists.

Aside from his virtuosity - his exaggerated in the best way sense of Rhythm(s) is just amazing .


Has there ever been another Guitarist like this ?

His tone and articulation are like John Williams and Paco De Lucia merged but the Rhythms are more unique -..and he seems to have very interesting repertoire .

Are those pieces he plays written that way or does Yamandu embellish them ?

[Dave70]

Lenny Breau!

[guitarbuddy]

Yamandu Costa is probably the Niagara Falls of Solo Guitarists.

Aside from his virtuosity - his exaggerated in the best way sense of Rhythm(s) is just amazing .


Has there ever been another Guitarist like this ?

His tone and articulation are like John Williams and Paco De Lucia merged but the Rhythms are more unique -..and he seems to have very interesting repertoire .

Are those pieces he plays written that way or does Yamandu embellish them ?

I saw Yamandu a few years ago in Austin when I was teaching at a college in South TX and the guitar student ensembles went up to play in a festival. Needless to say he blew the roof off the place. IDK how much is planned and how much improvised, but I got the impression at least some of it is.

[guitarbuddy]

I think most of the players that I know about have already been mentioned, but there are two that haven't.

One is Sylvain Luc, though he doesn't feature classical guitar as much as steel string acoustic and electric guitars. I'll dig around and see what I can find and report back.

The other isn't obvious, because he's known as a "classical" guitarist, but he arranged jazz pieces and also supposedly did some improv on them - Roland Dyens. Whether improvising or not they're some amazing renditions of some jazz chestnuts along with some Jobim tunes and pieces by Astor Piazzolla.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Bola Sete:

[Robertkoa]

I saw Yamandu a few years ago in Austin when I was teaching at a college in South TX and the guitar student ensembles went up to play in a festival. Needless to say he blew the roof off the place. IDK how much is planned and how much improvised, but I got the impression at least some of it is.

I mentioned on another thread ( where they were talking about tone is in the fingers - on Electric - with tone knob turned down ...) so I brought up Violinists ( Hilary Hahn - ) and Nylon Stringers like John Williams and Costa for REAL touch sensitivity.

But Yamandu Costa is quite unique because he does not need the footstool thing like Classical Guitarists usually do-
And he has a wider margin of error than classical guitarists do .
Meaning he can still nail his parts with a much more relaxed body position ( not rigid , moving, more freedom of arm and hand positions etc.)

You are a teacher - curious if some Classical Guitar Instructors are realizing there are 'other' better ways to do it from watching him - ?

[guitarbuddy]

I mentioned on another thread ( where they were talking about tone is in the fingers - on Electric - with tone knob turned down ...) so I brought up Violinists ( Hilary Hahn - ) and Nylon Stringers like John Williams and Costa for REAL touch sensitivity.

But Yamandu Costa is quite unique because he does not need the footstool thing like Classical Guitarists usually do-
And he has a wider margin of error than classical guitarists do .
Meaning he can still nail his parts with a much more relaxed body position ( not rigid , moving, more freedom of arm and hand positions etc.)

You are a teacher - curious if some Classical Guitar Instructors are realizing there are 'other' better ways to do it from watching him - ?

I'm not a classical teacher - at all. I was hired to teach an ensemble class of classical guitar majors playing jazz arrangements, which ended up being almost all ones I came up with. The head of the dept., though, Dr. Michael Quantz, is a super cool dude and fantastic teacher. He would probably be open to anything within reason. I know there are people at these classical festivals and such who are opening all kinds of boundaries on the instrument.

[grahambop]

It's a shame that there isn't more crossover. Very few classical guitarists attempt improvisation and very few jazz guitarists play non-electric. Or am I wrong?

I’ve done a couple of things on classical - here’s one of my efforts!

[ronjazz]

Yamandu, like many Brazilians, borrowed Paco de Lucia's sitting position rather than the classical style, and, very generally speaking, since Baden Powell and Joao Gilberto, the Brazilian approach has been more closely aligned with the flamenco, rather than classical, approach, with lots of improvisation, even in composed pieces.

For classical players, the footstool is as much a Segovia influence as anything else, but also helps to maintain the guitar in a stable position, which the rigors of classical "perfection" demand; flamencos and Brazilians are much less concerned with technical perfection than with expression. Yamandu's playing, while exciting and creative, is also somewhat sloppy in places and also very percussive, like Tommy Emmanuel for instance. Not a judgment, just an observation. Rafael Rabello was his main inspiration, and Rabello is more precise and "classical" in his approach, although very much influenced by Paco as well. Rabello was seen as the very best of those Brazilian stylists, with a great mix of classical and choro repertoire, and some beautiful versions of Jobim and other Brazilian composers. Someone like Luis Bonfa is more fun than Segovia; more free and less concerned with classical standards, thus more entertaining and interesting overall, just my opinion. But do include Rabello and Bonfa in your list of great improviser's on the nylon-string guitar.