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Overlooked Guitarists


Brad

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Wow, as soon as I first saw this thread, I was gonna put Mundell Lowe. I read every single one of the 9 pages, and the second to the last post stated him! hehe. Yes Mundell was pretty underrated. I have his Transit West album.

I never thought Joe Pass was that underrated, but I hardly ever here of him.

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Ray Russell - 3 on CBS, one on RCA-Victor, one on Black Lion. From Atilla Zoller-esque on the first two through a very 'out' hybrid of SHarrock, Bailey and Arto Lindsay on the latter, his career trajectory in the 60s and 70s is something to watch. Plus, his writing and group-assembly tactics are something to behold.

:tup:tup:tup:tup

I've also been enjoying the first Raymond Boni LP (at least to my knowledge), an album of solo guitar called "L'Oiseau, L'Arbe, Le Beton." Wonderfully warped, yet subtle improvisations, some almost minimalist. LP was on Futura's SON series, and it was reissued on CD by Marge. Don't care as much for his later synth-guitar ramblings, but this is a must for anyone whose solo-guitar tastes run askew. :tup

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Wow, I missed this thread for a LONG time...until today in fact!

Brownian Motion 

Posted: Jan 7 2005, 12:50 PM

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In some sense all guitarists who were contemporaries of Django and Charlie Christian are overlooked, so huge are these 2 swing players reputations. One who stands out for me is Tiny Grimes, especially his contributions to the fabulous Art Tatum Trio recordings of 1944.

I was gonna nominate Grimes myself. I scored the Hardee/Quebec BN Mosaic LP box a while back and in making a back-up CD-R copy listened again to all the material. What struck me this time through (possibly due to the better sonics of the LP set) as it never had before was the quality of Grimes' playing. It really made me sit up and take notice, this guy was phenomenal. I more recently found an LP called SOME GROOVY FOURS led by Grimes, a session from the 70s recorded in Paris that is a neglected gem. So nice to be able to hear his wonderful tone and ideas in good sound. Tiny was the stuff, no question.

Paul Secor mentioned Oscar Aleman, and I'd agree with that one too. A contemporary of Django, but really sounds very little like him.

This is a thread dense with info, so if this next one was mentioned already I apologize for missing it - I didn't see Sonny Greenwich (at least not a lot of discussion). I'll relook and edit my comments if I find them this time through. He deserves comment regardless.

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A great unsung rock guitarist...

With all due respect, and not to take anything away from your recommendation, but... can we not start listing every guitar player who ever lived here? This type of "list" thread is already kind of diluted in a way (in terms of being able to focus on who's mentioned and hopefully generate some kind of discussion that will encourage people to actually investigate those players they're unfamiliar with). Just a thought. What about an "Overlooked rock guitarists" thread? :tup B-)

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Wow, I missed this thread for a LONG time...until today in fact!

Brownian Motion  

Posted: Jan 7 2005, 12:50 PM

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In some sense all guitarists who were contemporaries of Django and Charlie Christian are overlooked, so huge are these 2 swing players reputations. One who stands out for me is Tiny Grimes, especially his contributions to the fabulous Art Tatum Trio recordings of 1944.

I was gonna nominate Grimes myself. I scored the Hardee/Quebec BN Mosaic LP box a while back and in making a back-up CD-R copy listened again to all the material. What struck me this time through (possibly due to the better sonics of the LP set) as it never had before was the quality of Grimes' playing. It really made me sit up and take notice, this guy was phenomenal. I more recently found an LP called SOME GROOVY FOURS led by Grimes, a session from the 70s recorded in Paris that is a neglected gem. So nice to be able to hear his wonderful tone and ideas in good sound. Tiny was the stuff, no question.

Paul Secor mentioned Oscar Aleman, and I'd agree with that one too. A contemporary of Django, but really sounds very little like him.

This is a thread dense with info, so if this next one was mentioned already I apologize for missing it - I didn't see Sonny Greenwich (at least not a lot of discussion). I'll relook and edit my comments if I find them this time through. He deserves comment regardless.

Since you´ve mentioned Tiny Grimes, I´ll point out the OTHER guitarist in the Art Tatum trio, Everett Barksdale. In fact I prefer his interaction with Tatum.

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Ray Crawford - I think he was the first to play that bongo imitation on the guitar, at least he was the most inventive at it. Very overlooked, and very under-recorded. I LOVE the stuff he recorded with Ahmad Jamal.

I think I've never heard his stuff with Jamal but I love his work with Gil Evans, on Katanga and on his own Candid release. Aa very distinctive player: When I first got Katanga I put it on and left the room; when I returned it was during one of his solos and I thought I was listening to Out of the Cool.

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  • 5 months later...

Ray Crawford - I think he was the first to play that bongo imitation on the guitar, at least he was the most inventive at it. Very overlooked, and very under-recorded. I LOVE the stuff he recorded with Ahmad Jamal.

I was just listening to Chamber Music Of The New Jazz this morning. Beautiful swinging player.

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