sounds

Please visit the joe finn YouTube channel to hear tracks from these albums, various live clips, solo guitar and more:

 INTERVIEWS

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Empire Radio Sounds Jazz Artist of the Month Joe Finn

This interview was conducted in April 2022:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGbdNjfwziU

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Joe was interviewed for the “Six count podcast” with xara wilde in 2019

https://sixcount.simplecast.com/episodes/joe-finn-post-bop-jazz-guitarist?fbclid=IwAR1qkh8YRvj10s_NRA-hh6nZZXcLg9ZnOD_PDZklsYUPxSiHkZXcHWYvBrk

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By Monica Waring

Old Chatham local and nationally recognized jazz guitarist, Joe Finn, released his sixth album in March of this year. The album, appropriately titled Generational Dynamics, is particularly special to the veteren instrumentalist with the addition of his son Tom on alto saxophone, the +1 of the Joe Finn Trio.

Both Joe and his son Tom grew up in Old Chatham surrounded by jazz music in their home. Joe was first introduced to music through his father’s jazz records collected during his days as a radio announcer and host of his own show “Spin With Finn” during the big band era in Connecticut. Joe’s father was not only a music enthusiast, but an amateur composer and piano player who saw to Joe’s musical education at the age of five with piano lessons. Joe didn’t stick with piano long however. The moment he picked up the guitar, he knew it was his instrument and hasn’t put it down since.

Forging a career in music

After receiving a BA in Music from Plattsburgh State followed by a decade on the road playing gigs across the U.S. and Canada, Joe returned to Old Chatham. He wanted to focus on local performances, recording and private guitar lessons taught from his private home studio. It was these guitar lessons that eventually peaked an interest in his young son, who wanted the same one on one attention he saw guitar students receive from his father. “I remember sitting him on my lap with the guitar when he was really little. He would try to press the strings down but he didn’t like it because it hurt his fingers. His Mom had played the alto saxophone in high school and she still had the horn in the closet. She got it out of its case, played a few notes on it, and then gave him the horn and he started playing. He really enjoyed it right from the beginning. We played together a lot, I mean seven days a week for years until he went off to school when he was 18.” Tom, now 30, plays the alto saxophone professionally and is employed as an instructor at The Bronx Charter School for the Arts in New York City and at The Litchfield Jazz Festival Music Camp in the summer, where his father once taught. Tom has grown as an artist and an equal in this recent album, according to Joe.

Father and son collaborate

“There is a musical maturation in Tom’s playing. I have included him on various gigs of mine since he was 13 or so, and we had of course played at home for years before that. Now that he is 30, he is really coming into his own as a performer and stylist. It’s gratifying to finally have a recording where we are together as collaborators. The give and take dynamic of father and son working together is something that happens only occasionally in jazz. So the CD title “Generational Dynamics” emphasizes this and when you listen it’s clear that Tom is a full partner in this endeavour.”

In addition to his son, Joe is also proud of the album as it’s the realization of a long time dream. Influenced by the music of guitarists George Benson, Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, who had all recorded extensively with organists in a classic jazz configuration, Joe had hoped to do the same. For years he had no luck in finding a talented organist to play with regularly until he met Jon LeRoy, who finally helped fulfill the goal of producing a recording ensemble of guitar, drums and organ [+1]

Local influences

Looking back, Joe credits the Chatham High School Music Department for helping to make jazz music relevant and accessible to generations of local students through their program. Joe remembers touring with the Chatham High School Jazz Band , an experience that opened his eyes to a whole new world of performing , as it did for his son. 

“When I was in High School in the 1960s and 1970s Chatham had a jazz band . Tom’s experience a generation later was very much the same as mine. His band director’s name was Mark Giordano, who was a great mentor for Tom. He did amazing work with those kids. He took them to play at High School jazz festivals and he took them to perform at Lincoln Center, which was a real treat; especially for some of the students who had never been away from Chatham before.”

Old Chatham DNA

For Finn, his roots in Old Chatham have become part of his musical DNA and a family legacy. “Jazz for me is what I grew up listening to. It’s who I am. It’s my identity. Music is cultural expression. I played in all kinds of bands and I played every imaginable gig you could think of but I grew up in Old Chatham, New York, so in the end you just have to be who you are. Be true to yourself. That’s my own cultural experience growing up with jazz, and I guess I can thank my Dad for that because that’s what he introduced me to.”

Finn continues to perform and record locally and still teaches guitar from his home in Old Chatham. He is also the author of The Jazz Guitar Almanac, a blog style feature on his website that includes tips and advice for guitarists and other useful information for musicians of all skill levels.

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The following interview was given to Jazz Guitar Life in 2004

JGL: How old are you?

JF: I was born on January 29, 1953 in Hartford, Connecticut.

JGL: At what age did you first get into guitar playing and were you interested in jazz from the beginning or were there other musical interests before jazz? What was the motivating experience to get you involved in this particular music and instrument?

JF: I was exposed to music in infancy since my Father was an amateur pianist. He was also a radio announcer. He had a big collection of recordings that he had appropriated once the radio station was through with them. He was either playing the piano or playing records pretty much all the time. I remember hearing a lot of Nat Cole, Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, various big bands and lots of Frank Sinatra. He also listened to a lot of classical music. At the piano he would play a little Beethoven, various jazz standards like Green Dolphin Street and his own compositions. So I got to play the piano as a kid. They tell me I would spend hours sitting there plunking out little melodies and chords. I then got interested in guitar because my cousin had one. This was before I was ten. I don’t think he played it much and he let me borrow it. I hung on to it for an entire summer before getting one of my own.

JGL: What kind, if any, formal training do you have (ie: lessons, schooling, that sort of thing). And how did these experiences help you get where you are today?

JF: I have a bachelor’s degree in music from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. It helped me a lot to take those four years and focus heavily on music. The curriculum included ear training, composition, arranging, music history, theory, and the like. I also got my first opportunities there to work with and meet real professional players. Paul Winter, Chuck Mangione, Roy Burns, and Kirk Nurock, Billy Cobham, and John McLaughlin were some of the ones I remember. Aside from being inspiring musically, guys like this gave us the idea that a life in music was not just a dream. They were actually living that life. I had some great instructors too. Jim Miller, Jerry Lavene, Billy Hawkins and David Hoffman were people who really encouraged and inspired me.

JGL: What was your first guitar?

JF: The one I borrowed from my cousin was a Kay archtop.

JGL: Who were your influences on jazz guitar when you were beginning? And have they stayed the same or have they changed over the years? Who are you listening to today (guitarists or non-guitarists)?

JF: The first recording of a guitar I would have heard was Oscar Moore with the Nat Cole Trio. He was a very fine player that I learned to appreciate more and more later on. A lot of that music has been reissued and revisited by people like Natalie Cole and John Pizzarelli so it’s still pretty popular. I enjoy that style tremendously since I grew up with it. Later on I got interested in George Benson, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino. I copied each of their styles closely. I would transcribe their solos and practice them until I could play them note for note. Those four will always be really special for me. Listening wise I go for a variety of different things. I love free improvisation the way Cecil Taylor and Bruce Eisenbeil do it. I listen to a lot of big band music. Maria Schneider is one of my current favorites. I always liked Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Toshiko, Carla Bley, Kenton and Buddy Rich too. I’ve listened to lots of Ellington, Basie and Wynton Marsalis also. I leave the radio tuned to the local classical station so I get to hear a little so called “serious” music every day. I even like to listen to opera. Among guitarists I like to listen to Fred Fried, Jim Hall, Paul Bollenback, Russell Malone, Mark Whitfield and Jimmy Bruno. I love what Pat Martino is up to these days. He’s the greatest.

JGL: Did you know early on that music was something you wanted to do as a career choice and if so, what were some of the things you did to make this choice work for you?

JF: Back when I was too young to have any idea what a career might actually be, I had a feeling that music would be something I would always be involved with. It was just intuition, I guess. I was always hanging around with the other players and when you are around these various musical situations you just get involved more and more. As time went on my interest in music continued to grow and various opportunities would just naturally come up. Before you know it you’ve got something people are calling a career.

JGL: When you were younger what was your band experiences like? Did you have friends who were involved in music as well or did you have to search for people to play with.

JF: I had friends in high school who liked to get together and play various easier tunes like Footprints, Maiden Voyage or Freddie Freeloader or whatever. We learned from listening to records and from each other. There didn’t seem to be as many instructors around back then so we were sort of on our own for a while. I also played electric bass in the high school jazz band. This I loved because we got to play concerts out of town. That was really fun for me. I think that was my first time away from home too.

JGL: What was your practice routine like when you were beginning and what is it like now? Are there specific areas that you work on or do you just play through tunes?

JF: As a kid I spent a lot of time playing along with records. I did this every day for years. It helped my ear and my time a lot. It’s still a good way to learn tunes. I continue to enjoy playing along with the recordings of other guitar players. Jimmy Bruno is a good one because he has so much imagination and facility.

JGL: How difficult do you find it making a living as a jazz guitar player? Or have you found it to be relatively easy?

JF: I think it’s a lot like being self employed in any other line of work. I’m basically a free lance independent contractor. I have to create my own opportunities and sort of make things happen. You’d have to do this in any business, though. It certainly has it’s ups and downs, that’s for sure. You don’t make the same amount of money every month. That can sometimes be a problem. I don’t seem to have any trouble staying busy. I just keep a lot of lines in the water, so to speak. The calendar seems to fill itself up.

JGL: How do you go about searching for gigs? And what have you found in your experience that makes looking for gigs easier?

JF: I keep the traveling to a minimum. Almost all my gigs are near enough so that I don’t have to stay overnight anywhere very often. I have lots of local contacts among musicians, the union, and various venues in the area. This helps a lot. It’s kind of a word of mouth thing where your contacts and your reputation are the things that get you booked. Having recordings and an internet presence helps a lot too.

JGL: What type of musical situation do you enjoy the most (ie: trio, quartet, duo, solo, etc.)

JF: I’ve learned to become comfortable in each of several musical configurations. There are aspects of playing in trio, quartet, duo, and solo settings that differ one from the other. I’ve played a lot more solo gigs in the last year or so for some reason and I really enjoy the freedom I have when I’m all by myself. I can do things as a soloist that are a lot of fun for me that I’d never get away with in a group. My regular quartet is a great little group too. Those guys are such strong players that it makes my job easy.

JGL: Do you like performing more as a sideman or as a leader? And if you could comment on the pros and cons of both.

JF: I’ve been working more and more as a leader. I like it a lot because I get to choose the material that best suits me and I like interacting with the audience. I always say a few words to the crowd to put them at ease and let them get to know me a little. This usually makes people more relaxed and receptive. Basically I just want them to enjoy the music.

JGL: How many CD’s have you released as a leader?

JF: There are now four releases. “Straight Ahead” from 1992, “Guitar Signatures and Duets” from 2001, “Blue Tomorrow” from 2002 and “Destiny Blue” from 2003.

JGL: What was the motivation to release your own CD’s? And what was your experience as such getting that first CD out (from the initial idea to the final product)? Do you have any plans for future projects and if so, will there be more original compositions on it or do you prefer playing standards?

JF: In some ways I record simply as a way of expressing myself musically. I’m looking to create a certain statement of where I’m at musically at a given time. I love being involved in the recording process. It takes time but the results are worth it. The last CD “Destiny Blue” was a continuation of the quartet concept that we began on “Blue Tomorrow”. I had a collection of standards and originals that we had been performing as a quartet and we just felt the need to lay them down in the studio. There’s a certain sense in which you want to document what the band is doing in the relatively controlled setting of the studio. Putting the tracks together into a coherent album of music is a very satisfying process. I haven’t decided if the next cd will be with the quartet or not yet. I feel a little like I’ve done what I can do with the quartet concept for the time being. I may record some duets with piano just to see where that takes me.

I’m in no rush to record right now. I can wait until the time is right.

JGL: Any advice for the younger guy or gal who is thinking about playing jazz guitar?

JF: I have a half dozen private students right now. I give them advice all the time. Some of them actually listen, too! I think the big thing for a lot of them is to learn as much of the repertoire as they can. A lot of them are good readers and many can improvise pretty well. One of the things that tends to hold them back is not knowing enough tunes. I usually ask a student to learn a tune every week. If they do this for two or three years they’ll have a pretty good list of material.

JGL: On your site, there is a wonderful resource called the Jazz Guitar Almanac…could you describe how that came about and do you put all the work in it yourself? It truly is a great resource. I visit it often and I really enjoy it. I always come away from it having learned something new. So kudos to you!

JF: About five years ago I began to notice that there were a lot of guitar players who had put websites up. Rick Stone and Jimmy Bruno were into this pretty early. I wanted to put up some instructional material and the usual audio clips and biographical information, but I felt like I wanted some other kind of content too. I wanted something that other sites didn’t have that would make my site a little bit different. I began to think about all the great guitar players over the last century who were becoming increasingly obscure. The idea of establishing a list of birthdays was what I came up with as a way of keeping the names of these players in circulation. I combined this with a list of tips for guitar players. It took me about a year to get the tips and the birthdays together but I’m glad I’ve done that. I always get lots of positive feedback regarding The Jazz Guitar Almanac.

JGL: I read somewhere that you appeared on BET’s Jazz Discovery Showcase in 1998 and won the award in their jazz instrumental category. How did that come about and what, if any, was the outcome of winning such an award?

JF: There was a local television show in Albany, New York at the time that had invited the quartet to play. It turned out that the audio and the video quality we got was excellent and one of the guys in the band asked why didn’t we submit a copy to Jazz Discovery Showcase? We had performed “Lucky Southern” and “The Days of Wine and Roses” on the tape which turned out to be good choices because they were very accessible and swinging. The funny thing about having won the award was that they put my private phone number on the screen after they had played the clip. This resulted in me getting all kinds of phone calls from all kinds of people I didn’t know in the middle of the night when the show aired. That was different. The phone calls were mostly good natured and amusing. All in all it was a great experience.

JGL: You play quite a few gigs as a solo guitarist and your CD “Guitar Signatures and Duets” is a solo guitar venture where you you pay tribute to jazz guitarists like George Benson, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, and others who have influenced your playing and/or listening habits in way or another. How did this CD come to be?. Could you explain why you have chosen this form of guitar playing and do you find it limiting at all or is there a greater sense of freedom not being bound by another instrument? How do you approach this method of playing?

JF: Well, as it turns out, there is a small group of my fellow guitarists to whom I owe a huge debt. These are the guys that taught me, through their recordings, not just how to play guitar but how to approach the art in a broader sense. What I decided to do was to record several solo guitar selections with each one being in the style of one of these players. I did this out of admiration and respect for these guys. Each of these players had a specific way of making a solo statement on the guitar that is very distinctive. To me it’s just as individualistic as a signature. That’s where the CD’s title came from. Playing unaccompanied solos in this way is very liberating but very demanding too. There is a lot of responsibility and a lot of freedom at the same time. Trying to keep all of this focused within the bounds of the “guitar signatures” theme made it a very challenging project for me. On some of the selections I did dozens of takes and was still not pleased with the results. After what seemed like weeks I finally got enough of what I was listening for to bring the project to fruition. It was really hard work, much more difficult than a combo recording.

JGL: How important is the audience to you? And how do you handle nights when the club is practically empty or when you are playing your heart out and everyone seems to be blabbing away and not listening to what you’re playing?

JF: The audience is everything. Without them I’m out of business. Everybody plays to a half empty house now and then. There will also be nights, in clubs mostly, when the crowd is inattentive or too busy socializing with one another to bother listening. It doesn’t bother me anymore though. I see every time I perform as an opportunity to make something beautiful happen. It doesn’t matter how humble or how spectacular the situation might be. It’s nice to have the audience with you of course, but if they aren’t that’s ok. Even on the worst nights there is still somebody out there listening closely.

JGL: I’ve read that you endorse guitars made by the Montreal luthier Michael Greenfield. How did all of this come about? Were you approached by these guitar makers or did you seek them out?

JF: I’m very pleased to be associated with Michael Greenfield. He makes some of the greatest guitars I’ve ever played. I’ve played all the best guitars on the market and Greenfield guitars are unsurpassed. I met Michael at a guitar show where I was performing last year. After playing his guitars and talking to him for a while we decided to get together on some promotional things. He had me up to Montreal to record some music for his demo cd and we’ll also be doing the Classic American Guitar Show on Long Island in May 2004. At this point in my life I can play any guitar I want. So I sat down with Greenfield and came up with some ideas for a custom archtop. He is building it to my specifications. I’m sure it will be spectacular; all select wood, with a carved top custom voiced by Michael. It should be ready pretty soon. This level of craftsmanship takes time. You can’t rush it.

JGL: You live in Upper New York State. Could you describe the scene their for jazz musicians and jazz guitar players in general? And have you ever thought about moving to a larger metroploitan milieu like New York or Boston or elsewhere? Is it a quality of life issue for you?

JF: There’s more than enough going on in upstate New York to keep me busy. There are a few other guitarists in the area too like Chuck D’Aloia, Jack Fragomeni, Joe Gitto and Sam Farkas. They are all solid players and nice friendly guys too. Good players will always stay busy. I play a lot in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont also. I haven’t played in New York or Boston lately but I really enjoyed my last trip to Montreal. I’d like to do some gigs there again soon.

JGL: Have you ever had second thoughts about your choice to have music as a career and if so, what other career path do you think you would have followed had you not been a guitar player.

JF: I don’t have second thoughts really. Not really. One of the things that continues to be important to me is to play well. What I mean is that I want my playing to be on a really high level. That’s not always easy even when music is a full time pursuit. It’s a constant challenge. I really don’t know what I’d be doing if I wasn’t a guitar player. I kiddingly say that I’m a guitar player because I’m not smart enough to do anything else. Actually, I’m really only half kidding.

JGL: Thank you Joe for participating in jazzguitarlife.com. It is most appreciated.

The Jazz guitar almanac

december 2025

December 1     

Happy Birthday, Ike Isaacs!  [1919]

Happy Birthday, Chris Standring!   [1960]

“George Van Eps was someone I had been listening to since

I was twelve or thirteen. Over the years I would study

any printed material I could find on him, listen to his

records and transcribe solos whenever I could. I finally

got to know him in 1986 at a jazz festival in Conneautt

Lake in Western Pennsylvania. After I made my first

album for Concord, Carl Jefferson, president of the

company, read in the liner notes of George's impact on

me and suggested that I call him up and do a duet

album with him. Well, it took a year to finally do it but

once we did, Carl Jefferson wisely asked that we do

more together. When we played together I concentrated on single-line

things that gave him the space to his beautiful chordal

work. He fills things like a chamber orchestra. He

would play just the right bass notes and harmonies just

effortlessly. He is such a natural.”  Howard Alden

December 2     

Happy Birthday, Fred Fried!   [1948]

“George Van Eps taught me to hear harmony in terms of individual voices and he gave me the technical wherewithal to achieving the pianistic sound that I always gravitated towards. I could never exhaust extrapolating from what he taught. And this is irrespective of style. What he taught was applicable to any style of music.” Fred Fried

December 3       

Happy Birthday, Barry Finnerty! [1951]

“In April, 1973, I moved to New York City, determined to break into the world of big time professional jazz. A good friend from the Bay Area, saxophonist Alex Foster, had been there already for a few months and had just started to play with Chico Hamilton, and after auditioning, I got the gig! Three months later, in June, 21-year-old Barry was performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on the same bill as Miles Davis!” Barry Finnerty

December 4           

Happy Birthday, Jim Hall !   [1930]

“Can’t play fast; won’t play loud.”  Jim Hall’s business card

“At first I got into jazz to make a living, to pay for my schooling. Now I feel that jazz is a valid art form. I doubt if I’ll ever go back to school, because I’m fascinated by the wealth of material in jazz. Once I looked down my nose at jazz because of having to play in night clubs. After I realized that it seemed to be the right music for me, once I found how much I enjoyed improvising, once I joined Giuffre, then I discovered my future.”   Jim Hall 1957  [age 27]

December 5      

Happy Birthday, Egberto Gismonti !  [1947]

Happy Birthday, Ralph Patt!!   [1929]

December 6

“Knowledge is not like a hamburger…...Suppose you’re hungry and I have a hamburger. If I split it with you, I only have half a hamburger left. But that’s not how knowledge works. I can show you everything I know—share all that I’ve learned in my years of playing guitar—and still keep it."     Mick Goodrick

December 7

Happy birthday, Chuck Loeb!   [1955]

“To be 22, 23 years old and to be asked to play with Stan Getz was like a dream come true. I’ve always been involved not only as a guitar player but also as a composer. Stan was not a composer, so he was always looking for other people to write music for his group. He asked me to write for him, Andy LaVerne wrote music for him. So I not only to got play with this guy, but I also had my music performed by this great jazz group all over the world, traveling to the jazz festivals and meeting all these people, an amazing experience that was very important for my development, I think.”    Chuck Loeb

December 8

“My phone rang on a Tuesday—I remember it was a Tuesday. When I picked up the receiver,  the voice at the other end said, "Mundy? This is Bird. I’m looking for a guitar player. Are you available on Friday?" I was shocked. Bird went on, saying he was playing a concert up at the Rockland Palace Dance Hall in Harlem. I told him I’d make the date, he said great, and we hung up. I had played with Bird in 1950, at Café Society with Tony Scott and others. When I arrived at the dance hall that Friday, Bird had strings and an oboe behind him. But he had only eight or nine orchestral arrangements. He needed a small group to fill out the concert time on other numbers. That group was Walter Bishop, Jr. on piano, Teddy Kotick on bass, Max Roach on drums and me on guitar. I must confess I was scared to death. I knew I had to show Bird the best I could play. The first song we played—Ornithology or Don't Blame Me, I can't recall—Bird ran through a couple of choruses and motioned for me to step forward and play one. After I played, I started backing up. But Bird waved me to go on, and I played four or five more choruses. Bird wanted to see what I could do. When I was done, he smiled wide, exposing that gold tooth. When you saw that tooth, you knew Bird was real happy. After the concert, Bird and I remained good friends. I lived with clarinetist Tony Scott at the time above the Café Society in Sheridan Square. Bird used to come down and hang out with Tony and me. We never talked about music. He always wanted to talk about books or chemistry or something else he was curious about. He was a great guy.” Mundell Lowe

December 9

Happy Birthday, Cedric West!  [1918]

December 10  

In 1978 jazz guitarist extraordinaire Joe Pass told Downbeat magazine writer Lee Underwood that in the future, “the idea of solo [jazz] guitar playing won’t be so strange. Lots of guys will be doing it, and doing it well. I don’t think anyone prepares himself to be a solo guitar player. They said to me, ‘Play a solo.’ I said ‘What should I play?’ They said ‘Whatever you want to play. You’ve got a union card, so play!’” In a 1975 Downbeat article Pass said, “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.” 

December 11       

“Johnny Smith wasn’t the first jazz guitarist that I heard. He was the first so called jazz guitar player that made me want to play the guitar. I didn’t quite understand what he was playing, but I also listened to Charlie Christian and DJango Reinhardt and a lot of guitar players around that same time. Some of them got to me emotionally and some of them didn’t. Johnny got to me right then and there.  I mean I didn’t know what he was playing or what he was improvising or what all that was, but it felt good, it felt right and it sounded good. I think it was the sound that attracted me to it more than anything. I think it is the sound of an instrument that gets right into your heart. “   Jack Wilkins

December 12       

Happy Birthday, Lage Lund!! 

(When I was a student at Julliard) “there was a large emphasis on going back to pre-bebop style players. There was a lot of transcribing Charlie Christian, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, which was one of the best things in the program. This music was founded around some of those players, and having the opportunity to study that music is very important. Also, doing things like writing big band charts, which I wouldn’t normally have done, was a great learning experience.” Lage Lund

December 13

Happy Birthday, Mark Elf!  [1949]

“There are a lot of great players here (in New York City) so it’s not easy to get a gig here. Most of my work is out of town. Most everybody’s work is out of town because there’s not enough work to cover the musicians that are here. No one could make a living if they just stayed in New York.” Mark Elf

December 14

“Transcribing is basically just the art of playing back or writing down something you’ve heard. Learning songs. Licks, phrases and solos by listening to recordings is a time-honored tradition among jazz musicians. Many people believe that they can’t transcribe. They think that you need to be born with great ears or some special ability. But the reality is that transcribing is a simple learned skill like any other, and involves a great deal of work. The big payoff is that transcribing regularly is one of the best ways to improve your ears and your playing.”    Rick Stone

December 15

Happy Birthday, Billy Butler!   [1924]

“ I met Les Paul in the 60s. As a guitarist, I had two idols—Les Paul and Tony Mottola. I was working up in Greenwood Lake, New Jersey in 1963 at a place called the Brandon Pavilion. I was about 40 years old at the time. A waitress came over to me and said, “There’s a man at the bar who wants to meet you.” It was Les Paul. He says “Hi, I’m Les Paul,” We talked for a few minutes, he gave me his phone and said, “Give me a call tomorrow.” Of course, I called the next day and we became friends.  One of my biggest thrills was playing with Al Caiola at the Kennedy Center. We played with a 100-piece orchestra and Doc Severinsen was the conductor. That was a big honor. Another project I loved was an album I recorded with guitarists Al Caiola, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Frank Vignola, along with Gary Mazzaroppi on bass. We called it “The Jersey Guitar Mafia” because we were all from New Jersey and we were all Italian. It was beautiful. “ Lou Pallo

December 16

Happy Birthday, John Abercrombie! [1944]

Happy Birthday,  Ron Anthony!   [1933]

“My favorite record of all time is The Bridge, I first heard it in 1962 at a record store in Port Chester, New York. I saw the picture of Sonny [Rollins] on the cover. He had a strange haircut, jacket and his tenor saxophone. I asked the guy in the shop to play it for me, and the first track was ‘Without A Song,’ with Sonny playing the melody and Jim playing a little counterpoint. Remember the little girl from The Exorcist when her head spins around 360 degrees? That’s what happened to me. And I kept thinking, ‘What are they doing?’ The sound grabbed me, and it was at that point that I knew what I wanted to do more than anything. Those moments, they just happen. You can’t look for them. They look for you, and wham!”   John Abercrombie 

December 17

“I’m not saying a guy shouldn’t take lessons, but if you want to play like the artists, you have to go and get what they’re putting on records and take it from there.”

 Grant Green

Grant Green appeared on 100 different albums on Blue Note records between 1961 and 1972. As the “house guitarist” at Blue Note, Green recorded with many outstanding artists including Lou Donaldson, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Lee Morgan, Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine, and Art Blakey to name but a few. Green was George Benson’s favorite guitar player and at one point Benson told him, “You’re a better guitar player than me, it’s not right, Grant. But they have made me greater than you. I can’t go around saying I’m the number one jazz guitar player and I know you are number one.” The two had become good friends and at some point after Green had passed, Benson acquired his custom D’Aquisto guitar. In an interview with Ed Hamilton Benson remarked, “I have the one that was made for him by D'Aquisto, the foremost acoustic- electric guitar maker. Not too long ago, he passed away. I became good friends with him before he died. And I came across Grant's guitar in a store and I had to have it, man.”

December 18       

Happy Birthday, Barry Galbraith!  [1919]

“Students should always experience an endless fascination with their own development. The instrument must always remain as childishly playful as it was when they initially chose it as their favorite toy….   My advice is to be persistent, to remain focused on the moment. To pay attention to all the beneficial things that come forth along the way. There's a good in everything.”

Pat Martino

December 19

“… the first time I heard Charlie Christian I thought he really wasn’t so much, because I felt I could play faster than that. Then after a few more times it really hit me, and I realized that speed wasn’t everything. I got quite emotional — put my guitar away and said I’d never play again. But the next day I got it out and started to try to play like Charlie.” -Herb Ellis

December 20

The career of guitarist Joe Pass was one that might not have ever happened were it not for Norman Granz. As a jazz record producer and concert promoter the unparalleled career of Norman Granz stretched from 1949 to 1986. He was the founder of record labels including Clef, Norgran, Verve and Pablo, and the concert series known as Jazz at the Philharmonic. He was the personal manager of Ella Fitzgerald as well. After selling the Verve label, Granz founded Pablo Records in 1973 when he was 55. At this point in his career he was inclined to record established stars like Ella, Duke, Basie, Dizzy, and Peterson. For some reason he took a chance on an obscure and little known guitarist in his 40s who had spent much of his life struggling with addiction. The recordings that Joe Pass made on Pablo were among their best sellers including his solo series of “Virtuoso” albums, duets with Ella Fitzgerald and various combo dates with Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, et al. As a result Joe Pass became a household name especially among guitar players.  Listeners who love the music of Joe Pass owe so much to the man who made it all happen: Norman Granz. 

December 21

Happy Birthday, Paco De Lucia !  [1947]

"You know, John Coltrane has been sort of a god to me. Seems like, in a way, he didn't get the inspiration out of other musicians. He had it. When you hear a cat do a thing like that, you got to go along with him. I think I heard Coltrane before I really got close to Miles. Miles had a tricky way of playing his horn that I didn't understand as much as I did Coltrane. I really didn't understand what Coltrane was doing, but it was so exciting, the thing that he was doing. “  Wes Montgomery 1961

December 22

“I’m not a person who learned to play….. in a school……. Those things worked themselves out in my mind. The good thing is that I had no school telling me I was doing wrong. Sometimes schooling gets in the way.  I didn’t know what the rules were, so I didn’t know I was breaking any. I bounce off the word “theory”- if it's still in the theory stage then I’m not doing anything wrong and I’m just practicing. I’m still searching.”    George Benson 2012

December 23

“Teaching music is a subject that needs to be emphasized more in schools, not marginalized. Strangely, the very thing we ask people to do once they leave school and enter the workplace are all the skills that tend to not get taught when the arts are removed from the school curriculum—working with people, working on your own, listening to people, giving direction, taking direction, showing up on time and being respectful of other people’s time. These are the traits everyone needs in order to become successful in life, and the arts is the only subject in school that provides this kind of learning experience, whether it be a theater group, a district orchestra or a small jazz combo.”     Kevin Eubanks

December 24

Happy Birthday, Volker Kriegel!  [1943]

“I was very close to Wes and his brothers. I met Wes when I was a teenager in Detroit. He and his friends used to drive from Indianapolis to hear me play. I had no idea of who he was or his ability. We just met and talked, a couple of guitar players who liked each other. I was working hard to get better, practicing six hours a day on my way up the ladder. A little later I saw Wes in Detroit at the Paradise Theater with Lionel Hampton’s band …... We got together often in New York when he started traveling and had many nights jamming in the hotel room. My guitar-playing friend Warren Stevens worked closely with Wes. He knew his schedule and put us together when Wes was in town. Warren loved to hear us play together. I was happy to play on Wes’ album with strings, Fusion! (1963)....... and when Riverside Records signed Wes, they brought him to town to record. I got a call from Orrin Keepnews, the head of Riverside, asking if Wes could use my guitar and amp. Wes didn’t like to fly and didn’t take his guitar on the plane. That didn’t make sense to me, but I said, “Okay,” because we were friends and I admired his playing. I was working at the time, at the Village Vanguard I think, so I was using my L-5, but always had a couple other electrics, and so I let him have my L-7 for his first record (The Wes Montgomery Trio). I think he used my Fender Deluxe.”   Kenny Burrell

December 25

Happy Birthday , Oscar Moore !  [1916]

Happy Birthday, Julian Lage!  [1987]

“Trane was one of the most dedicated and focused musicians I’ve ever met. [The Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane album]  was what we called a “blowing session” put together by Prestige. I was happy to be in the circle of people called for that. We were each expected to bring in one or two songs. In the process, there’s no time for rehearsals. You run something down once or twice and record it. I had to be on my toes, but was with great people. There were no problems. These were guys I knew – Trane, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. We had a few originals and a couple of standards, nothing complicated. For some reason, they made Trane and me co-leaders on the date. We didn’t think in terms of who was the leader; we were just trying to make good music……. I enjoyed playing with Trane because there was always magic happening.”   Kenny Burrell

December 26

Happy Birthday, Billy Bean  [1933]

“On June 2, [2016] I had a sinus operation that went wrong. The doctor went into my brain by accident with the laser. So I had brain damage. My family—especially my wife—freaked out. It caused unbelievable emotional stress for them. And for one month I was just unresponsive. My wife brought me home and did all these antibiotic drips on me. We had to do this day and night, and it wore her out. I don’t remember everything, but at one point Tracey told me, ‘You almost died twice.’ When you have something like that happen to you and then you come back from it, you have a tremendous appreciation for your life. I couldn’t play. I was so incapacitated, I had no coordination. It was scary. In the beginning, I would take a nylon-string guitar and go into the bathroom, where there would be more reverb, and I would just play Bach—this one lute prelude that I learned in my first guitar lesson way back in New York in the fall of 1965. At first, I just sounded awful. Nothing was working. I had to work long and hard to get the muscle memory back.”   Larry Coryell

December 27

 Peter Bernstein remembers Ted Dunbar, “I still think of him as one of my favorite humans, very wise, disciplined, intelligent—and also from Texas who could really play the blues. As a teacher, he was always talking about that balance—the head and the heart, the instinct and the learning. I met him at a very impressionable time of my life and maybe wasn’t all the way ready for him, because he made me ask serious questions about myself and my choice of music. Why do I want to do this? Is this who I’m supposed to be?”

December 28

Happy Birthday, Joe Cohn!!!  [1957]

“I was born 150 miles away from where Charlie lived, and my first experience was gained playing with an all-colored unit in Muskogee that Charlie had played with. They kept telling me to play like a horn, and I didn’t know what they meant until I heard Charlie’s first record with Benny Goodman. Then one day I met Charlie himself. What I remember most clearly is his saying, ‘The main thing is to concentrate on swing first. Then if you can make some interesting harmony after you know how to swing, that’s fine. But to begin with, swing alone is enough to get you by.’”  Barney Kessel

December 29

Happy Birthday Irving Ashby!  [1920]

“Tony [Williams] was a revolutionary drummer……. and had heard me play on a recording……... He liked what he heard and played it to Miles. I got a call and he asked me to come along to the studio and meet Miles.

I was real lucky ‘cause Miles was looking for a guitarist at the time. He was disenchanted with the way jazz was moving. He wanted something else…….. I like a sobriety of form and admired what Miles was doing. I went into the studio and played, a baptism of fire, or more accurately a baptism of sweat. I was so tense, I guess. It was a test, I knew, and I passed it and got the job.”   John McLaughlin

December 30 Happy Birthday, Frank Vignola!!! [1965]

“Jazz fans are pretty wonderful all over the world! I am probably  biased, but I feel that in every geographical location, they are different from the norm. No matter where you go, they are the people that question things and look for meaning. I also feel like they tend to be more open minded and compassionate. We are lucky to travel the world and connect with these people!”   Jonathan Kreisberg

“All aspects of an instrument must be studied. Gaps in technique are being bridged by newcomers. It is the evolution of playing that the new generation absorbs the techniques of the previous generation, so that newcomers should not have any trouble playing both rhythm guitar and electric guitar. You should be a complete player of an instrument that has so many facets.

 Rhythm guitar is one of the fundamentals of guitar playing and performs an important function in the band. It should not be considered unimportant. Pupils of mine who played good electric guitar, but never played rhythm, have found tremendous satisfaction in playing rhythm and have a new respect for it.”  

Barry Galbraith

Over the course of his career, guitarist Barry Galbraith appeared on 594 recording sessions. 

The Jazz Guitar Almanac is published in monthly installments on the first of each month.

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Press

Here is a review of the Joe Finn Quintet from 2021:

https://www.nippertown.com/2021/09/03/joe-finn-quintet-jazz-on-jay-9-2-21/

“Finn has a special way of taking on this music. Like modern guitar pioneer Wes Montgomery, Finn brings out the up-to-date elements of music without ever losing contact with the listener. The music stays lyrical and melodic, intelligent and pensive, never becoming discordant or unpleasing to the ear. If we awarded stars, this album would get five.” 

Dave Nathan  AllAboutJazz.com

 “Finn's technical prowess on the guitar is impressive while managing to be understated and not obviously imitative of any in the jazz pantheon.”   

David Hewitt JazzReview.com

“Finn's playing reveals a smooth tone and immaculate technique, reminiscent of such players as Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis.”

Dave Nathan AllMusic.com

“Taste, musicality, chops, maturity, and swing. These are words to live by when one steps into the ring as a jazz musician, and it's obvious from the first listen that Joe Finn and his quartet live by these words...and more.”

Lyle Robinson   JazzGuitarLife.com

“Finn proves to be a formidable player who rarely stumbles. His mostly single note licks fly by with ease, with an occasional octave twist a la Wes Montgomery.” 

Jay Collins  Cadence Magazine

“There's a fluidity to Finn's playing that always makes me smile whenever I hear him. The notes just flow out like water over a gorge.” 

J. Hunter AlbanyJazz.com

“Finn plays a straightforward, uncomplicated, but highly melodic and deftly harmonic instrument. He adopts that clean sound that seems to be the preference of his peers. This style also lets the listener get a grasp around each note Finn plays rather than trying to sort them out among a cacophony of over-ripe chordal structures.” 

Dave Nathan    AllMusic.com

“A top jazz guitarist based in upstate New York, Joe Finn has a mellow tone (a little reminiscent of Jimmy Raney), creates harmonically adventurous improvisations, and swings at every tempo.

            The COVID pandemic made it very hard for jazz musicians, but for As Luck Would Have It, the guitarist’s seventh release as a leader. Joe Finn took advantage of the fact that the top players living in his geographical area were available. His sidemen, vibraphonist Mike Benedict, pianist-keyboardist Wayne Hawkins, bassist Mike Lawrence, and drummer Pete Sweeney, have not only had extensive experience playing with major musicians but have also led bands of their own. On ten of the guitarist’s originals, they form an attractive group sound and their performances are full of subtle and inventive interplay.

            The opener, “The Good Word,” is a relaxed minor-toned medium-tempo piece that introduces the quintet and (as is true on all of the other selections) features inventive and concise guitar, vibes, and piano solos. “As Though I Had Wings” is an attractive jazz waltz which hints at “Inchworm” in spots. The uptempo “As Luck Would Have It” (with Lawrence particularly prominent in the ensembles and Sweeney taking a fine solo) is followed by “Elan,” a slow ballad that one could imagine pianist John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet playing.

            “Come What May” a happy piece utilizing the chord changes of Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation,” is followed by the harmonically complex but still cooking “Purity Of Essence,” the atmospheric and moody “Dedalus,” and the swinging “Asymetrical Reflections.” The CD concludes with one of the strongest original melodies of the program (“Born Yesterday”) and the joyful “Blue Ullon.”

            Each of the ten performances on As Luck Would Have It (www.joefinn.net) is enjoyable with Joe Finn displaying an original style that, while connected to the jazz tradition, does not sound like any of his predecessors. The musicians all were clearly inspired by each other’s presence and quite happy to be playing together. The result is a high-quality set of music that is easily recommended to anyone who enjoys modern straight ahead jazz.”

Scott Yanow The Los Angeles Jazz Scene