My Top 10 Influential​ Jazz Albums – Jonathan Ross

The Best of JOE PASS (Pacific Jazz Label) 

This album should be called “How to Play Jazz Guitar”, because it covers literally everything from Bebop, Hard Bop, Latin, Solo guitar, etc. And he plays 12-string guitar, Nylon string classical, Steel-string Acoustic, as well as standard 6-string electric Jazz Guitar. Every bit of Joe Pass vocabulary is on this compilation. My favorites are “Django”, “Night and Day” and “C.E.D.”. This album also holds a special place in my memory, as it was what I would listen to driving to class every morning during my short stint in Junior College. I’d grab a coffee and a couple of donuts, and drive to class listening to this. It was the best way to start the day. I was a young student back then, still trying to get a lot of things together with Jazz, and in some ways, I still am. I go back to this album often. This is a great album to study.

I Want to Hold Your Hand – GRANT GREEN

I am drawn to musicians who have their own sound. Grant Green, not only had soul to spare, but also got a crisp and clear (almost bell-like) sound from his Gibson ES-330 (in his early days before switching guitars toward the end of his life). I was drawn to the organ sound, and now that I type this, I’m pretty sure this was the first time I heard guitar and organ together on an album. I was also drawn to the cover, which featured a beautiful and mysterious woman with deep and dark eyes, which compliments the music very well. I’m a Millennial/Gen X cusp, so album covers are important to me. But, the album could have featured a picture of a sandwich, and the music would still be great.

Boss Guitar – WES MONTGOMERY.

(See the above WES entry. The same applies here). This also applies to just about every Wes release. Although this is typical Wes, the sound of the album is different. It sounds a lot brighter to me. Try playing his chordal rendition of “Days of Wine and Roses”. This is a perfect example of Wes’ signature “Block Chords”.

Top 10 Influential​ Jazz Albums Continued…

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