The Genius Of The Electric Guitar

Charlie Christian was dead of TB at 25, but his impact on modern jazz in general and electric guitarists in particular is incalculable. Yet another southwestern musician who came under the spell of tenor innovator Lester Young, Christian also learned valuable lessons from arranger/trombonist/electric guitarist Eddie Durham--who recorded the first six-string electric solo on Basie's "Time Out" and taught Christian the value of downstrokes. Christian's horn-like phrasing style and genius for setting up repeated rhythmic figures (known as riffs) anticipated the bebop revolution to come--and was a major influence on Thelonious Monk and Wes Montgomery. As a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet, Christian brought a renewed sense of swing and blues authority to the clarinetist's combo, where on numbers such as "Seven Come Eleven" he set everything in motion with only a few well-placed notes. His invigorating brand of tension and release reaches its rhythmic apex on his big band feature "Solo Flight" and an all-star bash with Goodman, Basie, Cootie Williams, and Jo Jones on "Breakfast Feud" and "I Found A New Baby." --Chip Stern