Joe Pass

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Joe Pass

Joe Pass in 1975
Background information
Birth name Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua
Born January 13, 1929
New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Origin Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
Died May 23, 1994 (aged 65)
Los Angeles, United States
Genres Jazz, bebop
Occupations Guitarist, composer
Instruments Guitar
Years active 19431994
Labels Concord, Pablo
Pacific Jazz
Associated acts Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Zack
Charette, Niels-Henning rsted Pedersen
Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua, January 13, 1929 May 23, 1994) was an
American virtuoso jazz guitarist ofSicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the
greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century.
[1][2]
His extensive use of walking basslines,
melodic counterpoint during improvisation, use of a chord-melody style of playing and
outstanding knowledge of chord inversions and progressions opened up new possibilities for the
jazz guitar and had a profound influence on later guitarists.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Discovery and subsequent career
3 Legacy
4 Discography
5 Selected bibliography
6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey,
[3]
Joe Pass, the son of Mariano Passalacqua, a Sicilian-
born steel mill worker, was raised inJohnstown, Pennsylvania. He received his first guitar,
a Harmony model bought for $17, on his 9th birthday. Pass' father recognized early that his son
had "a little something happening" and pushed him constantly to pick up tunes by ear, play
pieces not written specifically for the instrument, practice scales and not to "leave any spaces" -
that is, to fill in the sonic space between the notes of the melody.
As early as 14, Pass started getting gigs and was playing with bands fronted by Tony
Pastor and Charlie Barnet, honing his guitar skills and learning the music business. He began
traveling with small jazz groups and eventually moved from Pennsylvania to New York City. In a
few years, he developed a heroin addiction and spent much of the 1950s in prison. Pass
managed to emerge from narcotics addiction through a two-and-a-half-year stay in
the Synanon rehabilitation program. During that time he played guitar nonstop and further honed
his skills. In 1962 he recorded Sounds of Synanon. It was about this time that Pass received his
trademark Gibson ES-175 guitar as a gift, which he subsequently used for touring and recording
for many years.
Discovery and subsequent career[edit]


Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, 1974
Pass recorded a series of albums during the 1960s for the Pacific Jazz label, including the early
classics Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. In 1963, Pass
received Downbeat magazine's "New Star Award." Pass was also featured on Pacific Jazz
recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. Pass toured with George
Shearing in 1965. During the 1960s however, he did mostly TV and recording session work
in Los Angeles.
He was a sideman with Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Della
Reese, Johnny Mathis, and worked on TV shows includingThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny
Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Steve Allen Show, and others. In the early 1970s, Pass and
guitarist Herb Elliswere performing together regularly at Donte's jazz club in Los Angeles. This
collaboration led to Pass and Ellis recording the very first album on the new Concord Jazz label,
entitled simply Jazz/Concord (#CJS-1), along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jake Hanna.
In the early 1970s, Pass also collaborated on a series of music books, and his Joe Pass Guitar
Style (written with Bill Thrasher) is considered a leading improvisation textbook for students of
jazz.
Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve
Records signed Pass to Granz's new Pablo Records label in 1970. In 1974, Pass released his
landmark solo album Virtuoso on Pablo Records. Also in 1974, Pablo Records released the
album The Trio featuring Pass,Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning rsted Pedersen. At
the Grammy Awards of 1975, The Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a
Group. As part of the Pablo Records "stable," Pass also recorded with Benny Carter, Milt
Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and
others.
Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded six albums together on Pablo Records, toward the end of
Fitzgerald's career: Take Love Easy (1973), Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), "Hamburg
Duets - 1976" (1976), "Sophisticated Lady" (1975, 1983), Speak Love (1983), and Easy
Living (1986).
In 1994, Joe Pass died from liver cancer in Los Angeles, California at the age of 65. Prior to his
death, he had recorded an album of instrumental versions of Hank Williams songs with country
guitarist Roy Clark.
Speaking about Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2, Jim Ferguson wrote: "The follow up to
1993's Joe Pass & Co. Live At Yoshi's, this release was colored by sad circumstances: both
bassist Monty Budwig and Pass were stricken with fatal illnesses. Nevertheless, all concerned,
including drummer Colin Bailey and second guitarist John Pisano, play up to their usual high
levels.... Issued posthumously, this material is hardly sub-standard. Bristling with energy
throughout, it helps document the final stages in the career of a player who, arguably, was the
greatest mainstream guitarist since Wes Montgomery."
[4]

Legacy[edit]


Joe Pass in concert in 1974 playing his famous Gibson ES-175 guitar
In addition to his ensemble performances, the jazz community regards Joe Pass as an influential
solo guitarist. New York Magazine said of him, "Joe Pass looks like somebody's uncle and plays
guitar like nobody's business. He's called "the world's greatest" and often compared
to Paganini for his virtuosity. There is a certain purity to his sound that makes him stand out
easily from other first-rate jazz guitarists."
[2]
His solo style was marked by an advanced linear
technique, sophisticated harmonic sense, counterpoint between improvised lead lines, bass
figures and chords, spontaneous modulations, and transitions from fast tempos
to rubato passages. He would regularly add what he called "color tones" to his compositions, to
give what he believed was a more sophisticated and "funkier" sound. He would often use melodic
counterpoint during improvisation, move lines and chords chromatically or play melodies by
solely shifting chords, and descending augmented arpeggios at the end of phrases.
Pass' early style (influenced by guitarist Django Reinhardt and saxophonist Charlie Parker), was
marked by fast single-note lines and a flowing melodic sense. Pass had the unusual lifelong habit
of breaking his guitar picks and playing only with the smaller part. As Pass made the transition
from ensemble to solo guitar performance, he preferred to abandon the pick altogether, and play
fingerstyle. He found this enabled him to execute his harmonic concepts more effectively. His
series of solo albums, Virtuoso (volumes 1 through 4) are a demonstration of Pass' refined
technique.
Epiphone has produced an edition of the Emperor line of archtop electric-acoustic guitar in his
honour. Previously Ibanez had a Joe Pass model jazz guitar, as they continue to for influential
jazz guitarists George Benson and Pat Metheny.
Discography[edit]
Further information: Joe Pass discography
Selected bibliography[edit]
Mel Bay Presents Joe Pass "Off the Record." Mel Bay, 1993. ISBN 1-56222-687-8
Complete Joe Pass. Mel Bay, 2003. ISBN 0-7866-6747-8
Miyakaku, Takao. Joe Pass. Tokyo: Seiunsha, 2000. ISBN 4-434-00455-7 (photograph
collection)
References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Holder, Mitch (16 January 2006). The Jazz Guitar Stylings of Howard Roberts. Mel
Bay Publications. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-7866-7409-1. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
2. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
New York Media, LLC (17 September 1979). New York Magazine. New York
Media, LLC. p. 62. ISSN 00287369. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. Jump up^ "Joe Pass, 65, a Jazz Guitarist Who Performed With the Stars - New York Times".
Nytimes.com. 1994-05-24. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
4. Jump up^ JazzTimes review of Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2 (Joe Pass Quartet) by Jim
Ferguson (retrieved 3 October 2011)
Joe Pass Unedited article by Jim Ferguson
External links[edit]
Joe Pass guitar tab
Joe Pass Memorial Hall
A 1974 interview on his early guitar development
Authority control
WorldCat
VIAF: 113535384
LCCN: n81023038
ISNI: 0000 0001 1699 698X
GND: 134480732
BNF: cb138982845 (data)
NDL: 00452228