"I Think I'll "Pass" Today..."

My interest in big band and early jazz music took a rocket ride when I was in high school. There weren't and aren't many teenagers who can rattle on about Fletcher Henderson, or sing most of the lyrics to anything by Louis Jordan (with or without his Tympany Five), or who had a collection of 'vinyl' covering big bands from the late 1920s through the early 50s...it was an era of beautiful melodies and complex, tight harmonies that drew me to it like a moth to a flame. Still does, too.

I went to a boarding school for my last 3 years of high school, Woodberry Forest School in north-central Virginia...an excellent preparatory school on (then) 1400 acres of historic rolling farmland near Orange, Virginia. While we had regular Saturday morning classes, there was always a multi-hour break until my football game, or track meet, etc....and I soon discovered (and spent many hours listening to) a public radio station out of Warrenton, Virginia, specializing in Big Band sounds late Saturday morning through noon...I listened enough to learn a lot in those 3 years...too, weekdays I got to hear commentary from that classic of classic radio voices Earl Nightengale...just great memories.

And so it was that in checking out a YouTube video I was led into a couple of 'should hear' videos by another legend I'd gotten to know through that station: Joe Pass. His "Virtuoso" series he compiled on the Pablo Records label were aptly named...he was nothing less than a master of the jazz guitar. As you'll hear, his unique style of playing became his trademark. However, it was a tough road to get to his lofty seat...

Born in 1929, picking up his first guitar at 9, then doing gigs at age 14...not too long after that he was playing with Charlie Barnett and other Big Band notables...but his rise to stardom took a sharp detour in the 50's, basically, thanks to drug addiction and trouble with the law. It was a deep hole that took many years to effectively pull out of, but he did, and with panache. He did away with his purposefully broken pics and went to a nailess fingering style that allowed for his runs and chordings to be like that of melted butter. As of May 23rd two days ago, he's been gone for 13 years...but his legend lives on.

I think you'll like these two video links...remember, when you click on a link it goes from this page to that page...you CAN use the right mouse button and click, selecting "open link in new window" so you can remain on this page. That way you can let the music run in the background (you don't necessarily have to watch the video part) while you do other things on your computer. Enjoy and feel free to "Pass" it along!

Joe Pass solo, beginning with "Ain't Misbehavin'"

Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald...nothing but free-form scat singing and jazz guitar!