Joe Pass

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Pass

J oe Pass in 1975
Background information
Birth name J oseph Anthony J acobi Passalacqua
Born
J anuary 13, 1929
New Brunswick, New Jersey, United
States
Origin J ohnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
Died
May 23, 1994 (aged 65)
Los Angeles, United States
Genres J azz, bebop
Occupations Guitarist, composer
Instruments Guitar
Years active 19431994
Labels
Concord, Pablo
Pacific J azz
Associated acts
Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Zack
Charette, Niels-Henning rsted Pedersen
Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua, J anuary 13, 1929 May 23, 1994)
was an American virtuoso jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to
be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century.
[1][2]
His extensive use of walking
basslines, melodic counterpoint during improvisation, use of a chord-melody style of
playing and outstanding knowledge of chord inversions and progressions opened up new
possibilities for the jazz guitar and had a profound influence on later guitarists.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Discovery and subsequent career
3 Legacy
4 Discography
5 Selected bibliography
6 References
7 External links
Early life
Born in New Brunswick, New J ersey,
[3]
J oe Pass, the son of Mariano Passalacqua, a
Sicilian-born steel mill worker, was raised in J ohnstown, Pennsylvania. He received his
first guitar, a Harmony model bought for $17, on his 9th birthday. Pass' father recognized
early that his son had "a little something happening" and pushed him constantly to pick up
tunes by ear, play pieces not written specifically for the instrument, practice scales and not
to "leave any spaces" - that is, to fill in the sonic space between the notes of the melody.
As early as 14, Pass started getting gigs and was playing with bands fronted by Tony Pastor
and Charlie Barnet, honing his guitar skills and learning the music business. He began
traveling with small jazz groups and eventually moved from Pennsylvania to New York
City. In a few years, he developed a heroin addiction and spent much of the 1950s in
prison. Pass managed to emerge from narcotics addiction through a two-and-a-half-year
stay in the Synanon rehabilitation program. During that time he "didn't do a lot of
playing".
[4]
In 1962 he recorded Sounds of Synanon. It was about this time that Pass
received his trademark Gibson ES-175 guitar as a gift, which he subsequently used for
touring and recording for many years.
Discovery and subsequent career


Ella Fitzgerald and J oe Pass, 1974
Pass recorded a series of albums during the 1960s for the Pacific J azz label, including the
early classics Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. In 1963, Pass
received Downbeat magazine's "New Star Award." Pass was also featured on Pacific J azz
recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. Pass toured with George
Shearing in 1965. During the 1960s however, he did mostly TV and recording session work
in Los Angeles.
He was a sideman with Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, J oe Williams, Della
Reese, J ohnny Mathis, and worked on TV shows including The Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Steve Allen Show, and others. In the early
1970s, Pass and guitarist Herb Ellis were performing together regularly at Donte's jazz club
in Los Angeles. This collaboration led to Pass and Ellis recording the very first album on
the new Concord J azz label, entitled simply Jazz/Concord (#CJ S-1), along with bassist Ray
Brown and drummer J ake Hanna. In the early 1970s, Pass also collaborated on a series of
music books, and his Joe Pass Guitar Style (written with Bill Thrasher) is considered a
leading improvisation textbook for students of jazz.
Norman Granz, the producer of J azz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve Records
signed Pass to Granz's new Pablo Records label in 1970. In 1974, Pass released his
landmark solo album Virtuoso on Pablo Records. Also in 1974, Pablo Records released the
album The Trio featuring Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning rsted Pedersen. At the
Grammy Awards of 1975, The Trio won the Grammy Award for Best J azz Performance by
a Group. As part of the Pablo Records "stable," Pass also recorded with Benny Carter, Milt
J ackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count
Basie, and others.
Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded six albums together on Pablo Records, toward the end of
Fitzgerald's career: Take Love Easy (1973), Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), "Hamburg
Duets - 1976" (1976), "Sophisticated Lady" (1975, 1983), Speak Love (1983), and Easy
Living (1986).
In 1994, J oe Pass died from liver cancer in Los Angeles, California at the age of 65. Prior
to his death, he had recorded an album of instrumental versions of Hank Williams songs
with country guitarist Roy Clark.
Speaking about Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2, J im Ferguson wrote: "The follow up to
1993's Joe Pass & Co. Live At Yoshi's, this release was colored by sad circumstances: both
bassist Monty Budwig and Pass were stricken with fatal illnesses. Nevertheless, all
concerned, including drummer Colin Bailey and second guitarist J ohn Pisano, play up to
their usual high levels.... Issued posthumously, this material is hardly sub-standard.
Bristling with energy throughout, it helps document the final stages in the career of a player
who, arguably, was the greatest mainstream guitarist since Wes Montgomery."
[5]

Legacy


J oe Pass in concert in 1974 playing his famous Gibson ES-175 guitar
In addition to his ensemble performances, the jazz community regards J oe Pass as an
influential solo guitarist. New York Magazine said of him, "J oe Pass looks like somebody's
uncle and plays guitar like nobody's business. He's called "the world's greatest" and often
compared to Paganini for his virtuosity. There is a certain purity to his sound that makes
him stand out easily from other first-rate jazz guitarists."
[2]
His solo style was marked by an
advanced linear technique, sophisticated harmonic sense, counterpoint between improvised
lead lines, bass figures and chords, spontaneous modulations, and transitions from fast
tempos to rubato passages. He would regularly add what he called "color tones" to his
compositions, to give what he believed was a more sophisticated and "funkier" sound. He
would often use melodic counterpoint during improvisation, move lines and chords
chromatically or play melodies by solely shifting chords, and descending augmented
arpeggios at the end of phrases.
Pass' early style (influenced by guitarist Django Reinhardt and saxophonist Charlie Parker),
was marked by fast single-note lines and a flowing melodic sense. Pass had the unusual
lifelong habit of breaking his guitar picks and playing only with the smaller part. As Pass
made the transition from ensemble to solo guitar performance, he preferred to abandon the
pick altogether, and play fingerstyle. He found this enabled him to execute his harmonic
concepts more effectively. His series of solo albums, Virtuoso (volumes 1 through 4) are a
demonstration of Pass' refined technique.
Epiphone has produced an edition of the Emperor line of archtop electric-acoustic guitar in
his honour. Previously Ibanez had a J oe Pass model jazz guitar, as they continue to for
influential jazz guitarists George Benson and Pat Metheny.
Discography
Further information: Joe Pass discography
Selected bibliography
Mel Bay Presents Joe Pass "Off the Record." Mel Bay, 1993. ISBN 1-56222-687-8
Complete Joe Pass. Mel Bay, 2003. ISBN 0-7866-6747-8
Miyakaku, Takao. Joe Pass. Tokyo: Seiunsha, 2000. ISBN 4-434-00455-7
(photograph collection)
References
1. ^ Holder, Mitch (16 J anuary 2006). The Jazz Guitar Stylings of Howard Roberts. Mel Bay
Publications. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-7866-7409-1. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
2. ^
a

b
New York Media, LLC (17 September 1979). New York Magazine. New York Media,
LLC. p. 62. ISSN 00287369. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. ^ "J oe Pass, 65, a J azz Guitarist Who Performed With the Stars - New York Times".
Nytimes.com. 1994-05-24. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
4. ^ "J oe Pass - Interview". Retrieved 16 August 2014.
5. ^ J azzTimes review of Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2 (Joe Pass Quartet) by J im
Ferguson (retrieved 3 October 2011)
Joe Pass Unedited article by J im Ferguson