Industry Insights
Talking with Just Jazz Guitar Founder, Ed Benson
Howard Paul of Benedetto Guitars has a conversation with Just Jazz Guitar’s founder, Ed Benson – and Joe Barth provides additional interview below.
Joe Barth: What a privilege it was for me to be a contributor to JUST JAZZ GUITAR for over fifteen years. My interviews allowed me to spend time with just about all the major jazz guitarists and luthiers of the day. I have written for and published in several journals, but JJG was one of my highlights. Ed, your tireless work as editor and publisher of JJG made a significant contribution to the artform of jazz guitar. I know that some of my JJG articles have been quoted by scholarly authors published by companies ranging from the University of Chicago Press to Oxford University Press. Thank you, Ed, for a job well done!
JB: You were born in New York, but did you grow up in Cleveland, Ohio? What sparked your interest in the guitar?
EB: I was born in New York City and spent the first 18 years of my life there before deciding to attend college in Cleveland. My original intent was to attend dental school, but I changed career paths and ended up in retail. I became ill in my sophomore year of college and had to return home for a few months. I told my mother that I wanted to take guitar lessons, so she bought me a green Gretsch guitar #6120, and I began taking a few lessons.
JB: What did you appreciate about your studies with Dick Lurie and Van Moretti?
EB: When I got back to Cleveland, I decided to study with Dick Lurie, who was the best guitarist there at that time. He not only taught but had a TV show and brought in famous artists for concerts. He had a book of arrangements he was using and felt it was well-written by Van Moretti, and Dick said I should contact him for lessons when I got back to New York. As it turned out I attended a function that spring and the guitarist in the band was Van. I studied with him for a few years and ended up buying his D’Angelico Excel many years later. He was a fine all-around player and educator. I remember using violin books for reading during my lessons. Once a week, he had five or six students come to his home in New Jersey, and we all played different parts of tunes; you could learn a great deal by playing with the other guys.
JB: To you, in shaping your sound and approach, what are three of the most influential jazz guitar albums and why?
EB: Some of my favorite albums are Joe Pass Virtuoso and Two for the Road with Herb Ellis, two seven-string masters-George Van Eps (Mellow Guitar and 13 Strings with Howard Alden) and Bucky Pizzarelli with his son John on Generations and Tony Mottola on any of his Command Recordings. I also listened to Johnny Smith’s albums and the Town Hall concert with George Barnes and Carl Kress as well as Chuck Wayne’s Tapestry. Barney Kessel’s Poll Winners albums with Ray Brown and Shelley Manne were also favorites of mine.
I also liked Charlie Byrd’s rendition of “Jazz Samba” with Stan Getz. His feel for Bossa Nova was probably the best at that time. While not a solo artist, I have to mention Freddie Green, who took the art of rhythm playing to another level. He played in Count Basie’s orchestra for fifty years. He often played only one or two notes, but always the right ones.
JB: Your career was in retail, reaching the position of senior vice president of Macy’s Department Store. During this time, how active were you with jazz guitar?
EB: My retail career took me from Bloomingdale’s in New York to Shreveport, Louisiana, for a new job in the late 60’s. Back in my Cleveland era, in 1964, I bought a late 1950’S D’Angelico Excel from an ad in the local musician’s newspaper from a man who had an auto accident and had no insurance and needed money. He wanted $600, which I didn’t have, so I got a bank loan. I kept that guitar for many years.
Then, years later in Shreveport, Louisiana, I couldn’t find any players who played chord melody style, so I decided to sell this guitar for $ 1,500, which I thought was a fortune in those days, and I was a genius for making a $900 profit. What a mistake that was! That guitar today is worth a fortune. I then moved to Houston to work for Federated Department Stores before ending up in 1974 at Davison’s, which eventually became Macy’s in Atlanta.
JB: How did you first meet Bob Benedetto, and reflect on how the idea of making a video course of Bob’s process of building an archtop guitar?
EB: After retiring from Macy’s in 1987, I wanted to pursue something that was a passion of mine. I started playing guitar in my late teens, and as I got older, I delved more deeply into jazz guitar, which led me to Cindy and Bob Benedetto. In the early 1990’s, I visited them at their home in Pennsylvania. Bob asked me to film him making an archtop guitar. I spent a week with him, and Cindy mentioned that she wanted to start a publication but didn’t have time and suggested I do it. I wasn’t very interested, as my background was in the department store business. I had no experience running a magazine. However, Cindy said she could get many of Bob’s customers to write articles, so my wife and I decided to take a chance for a year and started Just Jazz Guitar.
“Ed brought together a community of like minded archtop players and fans. Without him, the archtop community would not be the same. Thanks Ed!” – Frank Vignola
JB: When you decided to publish about jazz guitar, was your idea a newsletter or a quarterly journal that JUST JAZZ GUITAR became?
EB: I was concerned that some of the key players wouldn’t take a chance, but I was wrong. Almost everyone I contacted wanted to help, as there wasn’t much out there for jazz players except for an occasional article in Guitar Player magazine. I wanted to do a publication that had lots of material-lessons, interviews, reviews, and arrangements on high-quality paper; something that a reader would keep and come back to later and not toss out quickly. I couldn’t do this in a newsletter form, so I decided to go with a magazine. Bob and Cindy were invaluable in helping me for many years.
JB: When you began JUST JAZZ GUITAR, who were some of the jazz guitarists that you were most curious about, and why?
EB: In the beginning, I contacted players like Jimmy Bruno, Howard Alden, Van Moretti, Frank Vignola, Barney Kessel, and many others to write arrangements or lessons. They were always happy to help. I remember visiting Barney after he had a stroke, and he looked over an arrangement of his and made a one-note correction. His ability to accompany a singer was incredible. Just listen to the intro to “Cry Me A River” by Julie London. It never gets old.
JB: All the articles were wonderful during JJG’s twenty-year run, but name two or three you are especially pleased with and why?
EB: One of my favorite players and articles was the issue with Joe Pass. A chord melody master, Joe, influenced countless players. His playing with John Pisano is legendary.
Tony Mottola was also one of my favorites. He often corresponded with me and sent me some of his handwritten arrangements. I never get tired of listening to him as he always sticks to the melody. Many years ago, several subscribers mentioned Bob Conti as a terrific guitarist and someone I should feature. I had never heard of him, but I was on a trip to Las Vegas and met him at his gig at a restaurant. He had a ten-year gig at the Irvine Marriott Hotel in California. He never fails to amaze me with his technical ability. The past few years, he’s been importing guitars and setting them up in Las Vegas.
JB: Tell me about the guitars you have now.
EB: Over the years, I’ve had Gibsons(L5), Benedettos (recently sold a 16B, which I now regret), D’Aquistos, D’Angelicos, and a Kirk Sand nylon string. I’m now using a Bob Conti archtop and the Kirk Sand. I sold all the others. I decided I don’t sound any better on a Tele that Damon from Benedetto made for me, or a D’Angelico.
JB: In JJG’s twenty-year run, so much great material on jazz guitar came from you, but you decided to end the magazine. Why?
EB: After almost twenty years, I could see the business changing with magazines and newspapers going out of business, advertisers drying up, and digital taking over. I had a profitable run and decided it was time to call it quits. I had opportunities to sell JJG and my mailing lists, but decided against it as I felt anyone who would take over would change the concept dramatically.
JB: Since retiring from JUST JAZZ GUITAR, what have you been musically up to?
EB: Unfortunately, I don’t play much anymore due to a back problem. Howard Paul of Benedetto guitars keeps me up to date on what’s happening in the jazz guitar world. We get together for lunch from time to time.
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