Jazz guitar evolved during the 1940s and 1950s in a vibrant creative milieu with a host of instrumentalists forging styles from bebop to classically influenced jazz. Among leading guitarists of the early 1940s were the inventive Oscar Moore (1912-81), with the Nat King Cole Trio, and the sparkling Tiny Grimes (1916- 89), with the Art Tatum Trio. A revolution was under way in bebop, led by virtuoso players such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Guitarists were challenged by a new sophisticated linear vocabulary over an expanded harmonic framework. Various players started to work in this area including Bill De Arango (b. 1921), who played with Charlie Parker in 1943 and Dizzy Gillespie in 1945, and Arvin Garrison (1922-60), who recorded with Charlie Parker in 1946 on "Yardbird Suite" and "Night In Tunisia." In 1946, another development taking place was led by the innovative pianist Lennie Tristano, whose trio recordings with Billy Bauer (b. 1915) on guitar are experimental and veer toward the avante-garde. Bauer plays unusual lines and atonal elements across Tristano's advanced harmonies on tracks such as "Out on a Limb" and "Atonement." He refined his ideas and on Tristano's important album Crosscurrents (1949) reveals a smooth cerebral approach, playing angular lines with a dark intensity.

Tal Farlow
 
One of the first players to adapt scalar and arpeggio bebop vocabulary and evolve a fluent improvising technique was Tal Farlow (1921-98). He moved to New York and worked around town, absorbing the sounds being played in the clubs around 52nd Street. In late 1949 he joined vibes player Red Norvo, playing in a trio with Charles Mingus on double-bass. The trio often played fast tempos, and Farlow rose to the challenge, recording astounding solos on "Move" (1950) and "Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart" (1950); with their fast unison lines, they are a showcase for his uptempo facility. Farlow's solos consist of streams of long phrases, made up of complex bebop phrasing, played over a wide register with a singular style of accenting and occasional bending on a note for added expression. He also developed techniques that included playing rhythm by beating time percussively on the top of the instrument. In 1952 he left Red Norvo and started making his own albums as leader and developing his chordal ideas. On his great album The Artistry of Tal Farlow (1955), "Little Girl Blue" has a thick-textured chord melody with lower strings detuned. Farlow plays passages with the group and solo, ending with artificial harmonics. "Autumn in New York" uses chords with a large span in the voicings and features a heartfelt melodic solo. There is a scintillating fast solo on "Cherokee" in which Farlow's playing excels, creating virtuosic bebop lines through the harmonic changes.

In his subsequent recordings, Farlow again uses very low detuned bass strings on his solo guitar chord-melody arrangement of "Autumn Leaves" (1955), which has classical influences and fast fills in the melody with thirds. Farlow was a master of various techniques: on "Isn't It Romantic" (1956), he improvises lines with skillful artificial harmonics. He went on to expand his techniques, using tapped notes on upper and lower frets to stretch chords, and developing rich harmonic chord substitutions on standards.

Barney Kessel

Emerging in the 1940s, Barney Kessel (b.1923) has a style that was initially influenced by Charlie Christian. He worked with Artie Shaw in 1945, and recorded with Charlie Parker in 1947. From 1952-53 he worked with the Oscar Peterson Trio, playing a strong comping role. His solos and swinging bebop phrasing can be heard on tracks such as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Night And Day."

On his albums where he is leader, Kessel produced arrangements using a variety of approaches with chords and harmony, textures, and tone colors. His soloing shows interesting tasteful lines. Easy like Vol. 1 (1956), a hallmark of Kessel's playing, displays his adventurous and creative chord-melody openings to songs such as "Tenderly" in which he goes on to play a solo over the rhythm section with lines, chords and strummed rhythms. "What Is There to Say" also has interesting voicings and clean melodic lines. On Kessel Plays Standards Vol. 2 (1956), "Love Is Here to stay" reveals a use of chords with a reflective depth and fast harmonized passages for melody. The numbers "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" feature Kessel supporting the oboe with rich adventurous harmonies incorporating close voicings. Barney Kessel expanded the guitar's ensemble role and developed his own concepts.

Johnny smith

An exceptionally gifted individualist with his own approach to technique, soloing, and harmony, Johnny Smith (b. 1922) worked with Benny Goodman in the early 1950s and established himself as a session musician at NBC in New York. His original soloing style is not primarily derived from bebop and it contains unusual motifs and angular ideas that blend smoothly into his solos. Smith has almost faultless execution and a compositional conception in his approach to jazz. He incorporates classical phrasing and plays lines with a precise control, breaking into double-speed phrases with a graceful effortlessness in solos that are played with sensitive dynamics. Smith developed a technique for playing chords which gives a legato effect: he holds down pivotal notes which keep ringing to give a flowing sustain to his beautiful close-voicing impressionist harmonies. His glistening string tone and color on gently strummed chords is breathtaking.

In 1952 Smith recorded his arrangement of "Moonlight in Vermont" in a quintet with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz; it became an unexpected hit. He plays the tune as a chord melody with a harplike sound and dreamlike close voicings that blend into each other with ringing sustain and clarity. On his solo he surges right up through the register of the instrument and plays delicate and unusual lines and chords with harmonics. Among other recordings from 1952 that use stunning chordal harmonies and solos are the romantic "Stars Fell on Alabama," "A Ghost of a Chance," and a moving version of “Tenderly.” The lush "My funny Valentine" has two-part guitar lines and chords.

Smith creates adventurous harmony lines with the sax on "Tabu," which has a fast, cleanly articulated short bebop solo, and "Where or when?" and fast harmony lines with sax on "Jaguar."

He also takes "Vilia" from a Lehar's operetta and turns it into a swinging jazz chord melody and solo. During the following year, "Cherokee" (1953) with saxophonist Zoot Sims is arranged with frequent passages of fast unison lines, and "Yesterdays" (1953) has lush harmonies and a solo with unusual ascending partial chord motifs.

Tracks from Smith's great album Moods (1953) are astonishing melodically advanced and musically fresh. The stunning "What's New?" (1953) contains slow, gently strummed languorous voicings, attractive harmonized rising lines and a marvelous solo in which phrases swing right up through the full compass of the guitar to singing high notes. "I'll Remember April" has a wonderfully conceived melodic solo and on "Lover Man," Smith plays a beautiful emotional solo bursting with musicality, unusual motifs and explosive phrases that portray a deeper dimension. His near perfect conception and execution sounds almost composed. "Lullaby of Birdland" has double-tracked guitar in a contrapuntal classical style with both chords and notes merging together. The album has one of Smith's best known compositions, "Walk Don't Run," with its line based on graceful minor classical architecture.

Les Paul

A pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar, Les Paul (b. 1916) has had a long and adventurous career with recordings that range from jazz to lighter popular styles. Influenced by Django Reinhardt, Paul has a witty and expressive swing style, as can be heard on "Blues" with Nat King Cole from Jazz at The Philharmonic. After World War II, Paul led a fine jazzy trio and started experimenting with multitracking and recording material at different speeds on electromagnetic tape. His wizardry in the studio enabled him to add guitar parts in different registers using speeded-up and slowed-down tapes, which can be heard on the astonishing "Little Rock Getaway." He also used echo and sparkling sonic touches with tone. This complements his extroversion and technical style with glissandos and vibrato. "Lover," recorded in 1947 with eight electric guitar parts and multispeed effects, was ahead of its time. Paul built his own studio and worked with many figures as a producer, arranger, and guitarist. He teamed up with singer Mary Ford, and their commercial treatments of songs led to a succession of hits including "How High The Moon" (1951), built from 12 layers of sound.

Herb Ellis

Playing straightforward bop style with strands from the blues, Herb Ellis (b. 1921) worked with pianist Oscar Peterson from 1953-58. His clean lines with singing tones and straightforward ideas for soloing can be heard on the group's outstanding live album At Zardi's (1956). The solo on "I Was Doing Alright" is one of the many fine moments on the album. Ellis' interwoven countermelodies with Peterson can be heard on "Herbie's Tune" and "Noreen's Nocturn" as guitar and piano play seamless passages of soloing and work off melodic motifs. Ellis produced his own fine albums, including nothing but the Blues (1958). From 1959-63, Ellis worked with singer Ella Fitzgerald.

Kenny Burrell

One of the figures who took the guitar toward a more modern    hard bop style with considered   lines and a bluesy atmosphere was Kenny Burrell (b.1931). He drew from Charlie Christian (see pages 102-03) and his cool, controlled improvising has a clear string tone. After working with trumpeter and bandleader Dizzy Gillespie in 1951, Burrell's early album Blue Moods (1957) has lean well-paced lines on "Don't Cry Baby,” while he stretches out with an inventive solo using swinging bop lines, motifs, and bluesy phrases on "Drum Boogie."

The following year on Kenny Burrell and John Cohrane (1958), Burrell plays with a swinging, muscular, dry tone and conceptual clarity, opening out with adventurous inter vallic ideas on "Freight Train. The duet "Why Was I Born?" sees Burrell supporting Coltrane with crisp, ringing harmonies.

On organist Jimmy Smith's funky Back at the Chicken Shack (1960), the title track has Burrell playing bassy, thick-textured comping chords, and a spare bluesy solo using space. The number "Messie Bessie" shows him playing an extended bop solo featuring fast inventive passages.

Burrell's popular album Midnight Blue (1963) sees him taking a turn toward a simpler rootsy feel as his soloing incorporates a more overt blues flavor on tracks such as the beginning of "Mule," at the start of which he plays phrases and chords in a vocal style. Burrell takes off on the title track, which is a modal blues, while "Soul Lament" contains simple calling notes and contrasting darker chords. The number "Saturday Night Blues" witnesses Burrell playing simple stabbed chords and chips and playing a laid-back rhythmic solo.

Jim Hall

A major jazz guitar figure, Jim Hall (b. 1930) has a history of exceptional recordings in a variety of settings. Initially inspired by tenor saxophonist Lester Young, his deceptively spare and economical playing is full of subtle rhythmic nuances, and clever use of space, with interwoven melodic lines and tasteful chords. After working with Chico Hamilton in 19S6, his role on The Jimmy Giuffre Three (1957) in an advanced chamber-jazz setting is innovative as he uses classical and folk elements and a rubato approach. There is thoughtful interplay in the ensemble exchanges, and Hall plays with understated swinging intensity and introspective mood using close voicings and digging into the beat. "Two Kinds of Blues" and "Crawdad Suite" are episodic, with Hall playing colorful and unusual voicings, with a solo interlude. "The Train and the River" features countermelody lines with trills and a strange repeating nursery-rhyme motif.

Hall's first album as leader, Jazz Guitar (1957), is a contrasting trio with piano and bass playing traditional standards such as "Stompin' at the Savoy." On the Sonny Rollins album The Bridge (1962), Hall's guitar replaces piano with great effect. On "Without a Song," he embellishes Rollins' strong melody line and adds a link to a punchy solo using single notes and chords with a deep bassy jazz-guitar sound. "John S." has tight comping with close voicings to give an edge. The uptempo title track sees sax and guitar playing a short figure and a scatter of descending notes; Hall's solo is a mixture of intervals, developments of motifs, and fast skittering lines. He contributes a sympathetic accompaniment on "God Bless the Child," and thoughtful solo breaks that use space and the instrument's wide register with slides and the occasional subtle string bend, and beautiful harmonies at the end.