Charlie Christian (1916-42) grew up in Oklahoma City and started playing when he was 12. In the mid 1930s he copied Django Reinhardt's solos and absorbed the vocabulary of players such as tenor saxophonist Lester Young, whose distinctive phrasing and harmonic sophistication was to form a link between swing and bebop. Christian saw Eddie Durham using an electric guitar in 1937, and by 1938 he too was playing one with the Al Trent Sextet. Christian had a remarkable aptitude for the new instrument, taking advantage of it’s sustain and carrying power to develop a commanding linear technique with a smooth flowing style.

He gained a tremendous reputation and in August 1939 joined bandleader and clarinettist Benny Goodman. With Goodman, Christian's swinging solos give a feeling of easy mobility. His complex turns of phrase, sitting over the chords in a swing context, have affinities with bebop approaches, with diminished arpeggios and chromatic links. He often plays long lines with a control that gives an even sound to the notes, and uses subtle accenting and emphasized offbeats with occasional slides and bends. His riff-based ideas, which sometimes lean toward a bluesy flavor, were often used for unison compositional heads for the band.

Christian moved to New York and began his legendary recordings with Goodman in October and November 1939. These include "Flying Home," in which his clear and incisive solo, arcing lines and rhythmic subtlety are immediately evident as he switches from simple combinations of notes to longer phrases, and "Stardust," on which he plays a varied solo with melodic chords before introducing melody-based lines and using bluesy phrases and octaves. His solo on "Rose Room" starts with graceful relaxed lines then swings hard and digs into the beat with faster phrasing. "Seven Come Eleven" has catchy riffs and an exuberant solo with long lines and bluesy bending. "Honeysuckle Rose's solo is light and airy, working around pivotal notes.

In 1940, he recorded "Gone with What Wind" and "Air Mail Special.” The latter, with its jiving upbeat figures, followed by a solo with a bright clear bell-like sound and snappy lines repeating notes and motifs placed across the harmony, is reminiscent of Django Reinhardt.

Some of Christian's last recordings were made while he was jamming in the cutting-edge hothouse environment of the Harlem clubs Minton's and Monroe's Uptown House in May 1941. On these, he stretches out alongside the pioneers of bebop with wonderful invention on pieces such as "Swing to Bop." Christian died in March 1942 and his recordings became a template for many jazz guitarists in the 1940s and 1950s.