Consummate soloist, impeccable accompanist, tireless educator, fearless improvisor and bona-fide jazz legend, Joe Pass was a man that had it all – and then some! And as one of the most fluid and fluent of the great jazz guitarists, his infectious and effortlessly melodic playing is as joyous as it is mindblowing
Joe Pass was born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua to Sicilian immigrants in New Jersey on 13 January 1929. He acquired his first guitar at the age of nine after being captivated by country legend Gene Autry’s appearance in the 1940 movie Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride. It wasn’t long before Joe’s interest became an obsession and he would practise for two hours before school and two hours after, and then continue for four more hours after dinner before he went to bed.
His father drove him relentlessly and would ask his young son to work out – on the spot –any tune that happened to be on the radio. He also encouraged him to embellish melodies as he heard them. At that time Joe didn’t know what improvising was. To him it was “filling up the spaces”.
By the age of 14, Joe was out gigging at parties and dances. His father, a steel worker, was astonished that his son could earn more than he could: $5 per night. It was around this time that Joe developed an interest in jazz. His primary influence was Django Reinhardt, whose records were now starting to appear in the United States, inspiring and frightening guitarists in equal measure. Joe further expanded his jazz education when he discovered the electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian through his recordings with the ‘King of Swing’ Benny Goodman. From there, Joe took influence from anumber of burgeoning young jazz guitarists of the 1940s such as Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow and Jimmy Raney. As Joe said: “These guys added another dimension to the instrument.”
Time With Montgomery
Later on, Joe took to the playing of Wes Montgomery. Little did he know that some years later the admiration would be reciprocated. So it was that in 1968, when Montgomery was at the peak of his popularity, he appeared on television’s The Woody Woodbury Show. When the host asked the spotlighted player who his favourite guitarist was, Montgomery pointed at the house band, declaring: “He’s sitting right there in your band!” The band’s guitarist was Joe Pass.
In the mid-1940s, and still ateenager, Joe was sent to New York to study with the guitar legend Harry Volpe. After discovering that Joe was the better improvisor, Volpe switched to teaching Joe sight-reading, which didn’t interest the student at all. He left for home, but the buzz of New York City had left its mark on the young jazzer and he so soon moved back to the city. Pass was now spending his time taking in as much of the great jazz scene that NYC had to offer, soaking up the music of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum a
