|
|
Article: Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery electrified jazz guitar
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- October 23, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
|
NEW YORK When you speak about the electric guitar in jazz, two names
stand out like redwoods in a spruce forest: Charlie Christian and Wes
Montgomery. There were electric guitarists in jazz before Christian,
and many have come along since Montgomery, but these two still
represent the touchstones for most jazz listeners.
Christian was one of two remarkable string musicians who changed
the direction of jazz around 1940 by changing the way their
instruments were conceptualized in jazz bands. While Jimmy Blanton
was creating a solo role for the string bass in the Duke Ellington
Orchestra, Christian was turning the electric guitar into a major,
horn-like solo instrument in Benny Goodman's ...