Regardless if you’re a beginning student of Jazz Guitar or an established player, we all have at least five albums that we cannot be without! With that said, Jazz Guitar Life has asked Jazz Guitarist Larry Corban what his five would be (assuming that he knew before hand that he was going to be stuck on a desert island and that said island had electricity and a full component stereo system) 🙂
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1) Wes Montgomery – Smokin’ at the Half Note: Wes Montgomery is joined by the Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue rhythm section: Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums! This maybe one of the greatest live/studio jazz records of all time! Wes’ endless stream of invention for choruses while soloing is clearly captured on “No Blues” and the band is super swingin’ 100% of the time!
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2) George Benson – The George Benson Cookbook: George’s playing consists of wonderfully fluid bebop lines tinged with a blues skank. He is joined by Doctor Lonnie Smith on organ and Jimmy Lovelace on drums for textbook in a super, swingin’ organ session! Ronnie Cuber also delivers some ripping bari solos through out. The opening track, “The Cooker,” knocks the paint off the wall.
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3) Joe Pass – For Django: For Django is Joe Pass’ tribute to Django Reinhardt. He plays Django tunes in his own style with his own rhythm section and a rhythm guitarist. The result is an album where everything Joe plays is transcribeable. Arguably everything you need to know about jazz guitar is on this record: great lines, interesting solo guitar, cool arrangements and a good variety of different grooves and tempos. Above all Joe’s guitar tone on this record has never been better.
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4) Barney Kessel – Poll Winners Ride Again!: The Poll Winners Ride Again! is the second album of five released by this group consisting of Barney on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Shelley Manne on drums. Barney’s playing in a trio context is a textbook of information on how to arrange tunes in a way beyond the head/solo/head format. The way Barney comps for himself makes the guitar sound like a mini big band. Barney’s greasey “go for it” swingin’ esthetic is present here! Check out the cool arrangement of “Surrey with the Fringe On Top.”
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5) Pat Martino – East!: East! is Pat Martino’s third album as a leader recorded in 1968 and released on the Prestige label. This album is a perfect example of Pat Martino’s driving eighth note line. He had a way of propelling the rhythm section by the sheer momentum of his staccato picking attack. Great examples of his muscular and robust playing are on “Close Your Eyes” and “Lazybird.”
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