Category: Great guitarists
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Happy Birthday Les Paul
The great Lester William Polsfuss would have been 99 today! That’s Les Paul to you and me. Not only did he design the guitars that bear his name but also invented multitrack recording. Difficult to imagine what music would have been like if he hadn’t been around. He was also a very successful recording artist in the…
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John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia
I first saw John McLaughlin in the first incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. That’s going back a long way, but in all that time he’s never stopped exploring and pushing the boundaries and his incredible technique are always at the service of the music, whether that’s jazz, fusion, indian music, flamenco-influenced music… He’s a great…
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Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald – Duets in Hannover 1975
Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald live in concert I’ve said before that I’m a big Joe Pass fan, and I love his duet recordings with the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald; so it was a great treat to find this concert recording on YouTube. The first half features Joe playing solo, as brilliant as ever. Then Ella joins…
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Joe Pass: Misty
I’m a big Joe Pass fan. Joe was the first mainstream jazz guitarist I really listened to, especially through his amazing duet recordings with Ella Fitzgerald. If you haven’t listened to their first duet album, Take Love Easy, give yourself a treat and do so. Lush Life, Billy Strayhorn’s great standard, is particularly outstanding and…
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Kenny Burrell interview
There’s a great interview with Kenny Burrell in the Guitar Player Vaults. Kenny talks about his early development, his influences, how he got into professional playing, his artistic philosophy and his equipment. If, like me, you think Kenny Burrell is one of the really significant figures in jazz guitar then click on the link and enjoy…
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Stanley Jordan: Stairway To Heaven
Stanley Jordan is one of those guitarists who just goes his own way and develops a unique style and sound. He’s taken the two-handed tapping technique and developed it in a highly original way. And we’re not talking metal here, but jazz. The two-handed technique allows him to combines chord work, melody, bass and counterpoint in…
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Kenny Burrell, Grover Washington, Jr. – SUMMERTIME
It may only be March, but here’s an early taste of summer. A cracking version of Summertime with Kenny Burrell on guitar and Grover Washington, Jr. on soprano sax. Kenny sets up a great and simple dorian riff in the intro that just falls into place on guitar – one to add to my list…
Ashdown Guitar Lessons 