Charlie Christian

It could be said without exaggeration that just about any jazz guitarist that emerged during 1940-65 sounded such as a comparative of Charlie Christian. The initial important electric powered guitarist, Christian performed his instrument using the fluidity, self-confidence, and swing of the saxophonist. Although officially a golf swing stylist, his musical vocabulary was examined and emulated with the bop players, so when one listens to players which range from Small Grimes, Barney Kessel, and Supplement Ellis, to Wes Montgomery and George Benson, the prominent influence of Religious is apparent. Charlie Christian’s amount of time in the limelight was terribly short. He performed piano locally in Oklahoma, and begun to make use of an amplified electric guitar in 1937, after learning to be a pupil of Eddie Durham, a jazz guitarist who created the amplified electric guitar. John Hammond, the masterful skill scout and manufacturer, found out about Christian (perhaps from Mary Lou Williams), was impressed with what he noticed, and organized for the guitarist to go to LA in August 1939 and try with Benny Goodman. However the clarinetist was defer by Christian’s primitive closet, when they began jamming on “Rose Area,” Christian’s abilities were apparent. For another two years, he’d become well-featured with Benny Goodman’s Sextet; there have been two solos (like the display “Solo Trip”) with the entire orchestra; as well as the guitarist got the chance to jam at Minton’s Playhouse with such up-and-coming players mainly because Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, and Dizzy Gillespie. All the guitarist’s recordings (including visitor places and radio broadcasts) are available on Compact disc. Tragically, he contracted tuberculosis in 1941, and passed away at age 25 on March 2, 1942. It might be 25 years before jazz guitarists finally shifted beyond Charlie Christian.