VA - Jazz Legends - Guitars (2CD) (2002) FLAC / MP3

From Lonnie Johnson’s simultaneously strummed and soloed acoustic guitar within an Armstrong’s Hot Five modulating its power to integrate the unamplified guitarist, and Charlie Christian flights with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, pass Hall, Byrd, Benson, Beck, Gale, Malone, McLaughlin, the latter plus Di Meola and De Lucia, Santana, Holdsworth, Stern, White and closing the circle with Martin Taylor both on a laid-back Funk inflected Jazz feel with his snappy electric , and in a solo piece and on an ethereal acoustic mood, it’s almost a century of guitar evolution and feats, unveiled like the multiple branches of a tree.

Necessarily non-exhaustive, and anyone who looks at the artists represented will notice important absences (or probably won’t understand certain inclusions as the self-proclaimed smooth-Jazzer Peter White), with several artists featured twice and who may eventually be considered the most influential - but then a discussion about the track choices could also be opened -, this is nevertheless a pretty representative catalogue of the styles that shaped the role of the guitar in Jazz and its sub-genres.

However, my major complain is that in spite of the liner notes 2-pages text, written with a certain historical perspective and which puts everyone in its context, there’s absolutely nothing available about recording dates or about who’s who on each session (even if Jazz-guitar fanatics will easily recognize most sources). In any case, if it isn’t relevant for you, it’s still 2 hours and 10 minutes of high-quality guitar driven sound.

Tracklist

CD1 (01:05:41)
01. Louis Armstrong Hot Five - Savoy Blues (03:30)
02. Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - Solo Flight (02:48)
03. Charlie Christian - Waiting For Benny (05:08)
04. The Jimmy Giuffre Trio - The Train And The River (04:46)
05. Jim Hall - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (07:07)
06. Charlie Byrd - Corcovado (02:56)
07. Charlie Byrd - Samba Do Aviao (Song Of The Jet) (02:26)
08. George Benson - White Rabbit (06:59)
09. George Benson - California Dreamin' (07:23)
10. Jeff Beck - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (05:31)
11. Jeff Beck - You Know What I Mean (04:08)
12. Eric Gale - Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (05:21)
13. Russell Malone - Black Butterfly (07:38)

CD1 (01:05:49)
01. Miles Davis feat John McLaughlin - Right Off (26:56)
02. John McLaughlin - My Foolish Heart (03:27)
03. Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, Paco DeLucia - Guardian Angel (04:02)
04. Carlos Santana - Gardenia (07:12)
05. Tony Williams feat Allan Holdsworth - Million Dollar Legs (06:38)
06. Miles Davis feat Mike Stern - Jean Pierre (04:07)
07. Peter White - Kinda Sweet (04:38)
08. Martin Taylor - Midnight At The Oasis (03:58)
09. Martin Taylor - Mona Lisa (04:51)