Joe Pass

thumb|Joe Pass in 1975 Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass collaborated with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, his status as one of the most notable jazz guitarists of the 20th century is generally attributed to his work on his solo albums, such as Virtuoso. Quotes Staying high was my first priority; playing was second; girls were third. But the first thing really took all my energy. As quoted from a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone by David Slavković of Ultimate-Guitar (May 28, 2018) There are a lot of ways to do a solo album. One way is to take a tune and work it out, decide on changes, intro, and ending, modulations, tempos – work it out, and go in and do it. What I did, though, was just go in, and somebody would say 'Why don't you play How High The Moon?' I'd say 'Yeah, that might be nice.' I had no tempo in mind, no key, necessarily. I just tried to make it from beginning to end. I found myself getting into traps and having to get out of them. As quoted from an interview with Downbeat by David Slavković of Ultimate-Guitar (May 28, 2018) Quotes about Joe Pass Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as "Cherokee" and "How High the Moon" unaccompanied on the guitar. Unlike Stanley Jordan, Pass used conventional (but superb) technique, and his Virtuoso series on Pablo still sounds remarkable decades later. Scott Yanow of AllMusic You don't often see a musician that is able to play jazz. And even less often do you stumble upon a guitar player that's as nearly as good as Joe Pass was. And what made him so unique and great was his chord-melody style playing combined with fingerpicking and impeccable improvisational skills. Joe didn't really need a whole band as he often performed solo or in duo and trio formations. David Slavković of Ultimate-Guitar (May 28, 2018) External links Category:Guitarists from the United States Category:Jazz musicians Category:1929 births Category:1994 deaths