Results for "George Van Eps"
George Van Eps
Born:
George Van Eps was a quiet legend among jazz guitarists,
one who as far back as the 1930s pioneered
a harmonically sophisticated chordal/lead style that was
eclipsed in influence by the single-string
idioms of Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. Yet Van
Eps, like his brassy colleague Les Paul, also
stood apart from them as an iconoclastic inventor,
designing a seven-string guitar in the late 1930s
that adds an extra bass string. Thus, Van Eps was able to
play bass lines simultaneously with chords
and lead solos, a jazz equivalent of fingerpicking country
guitarists like Merle Travis and Chet Atkins.
Van Eps puckishly referred to his style of playing as "lap
piano," and his seven-string guitar has been
adopted by a select few figures like Howard Alden and
Bucky and John Pizzarelli.
Van Eps came from a talented musical family; his father
Fred was a famous master of the ragtime banjo
and a sound engineer, his mother played the piano, and he
had three brothers, Bobby, Freddy and John,
who were also professional musicians
John Pizzarelli: The Metheny Project
by R.J. DeLuke
Guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli has been a road warrior in a long career spanning some five decades. He's known for following in the footsteps of his father, the great jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, as a champion of the Great American Songbook working with classic jazz musicians and singers. He eventually became one of those singers that keeps ...
Take Five with Boaz Marva
by Boaz Marva
Meet Boaz Marva Boaz Marva is a distinctively accomplished jazz and rock guitarist, vocalist and composer. He plays in DOR SAGI band (who recently recorded an EP with keyboardist Jason Lindner as producer), worked with Amir Segall and Ben Silashi in their project Zzajeerf, gigged with Andreas Toftemark, Elam Friedlander, Naama Gheber, Joni Paladin, Sammy Weissberg, ...
Nat King Cole: Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943)
by Mark Sullivan
Before pianist/vocalist Nat King Cole had a career as a pop crooner--his many hits included “All for You," “The Christmas Song," “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," “Nature Boy" and “Mona Lisa" (the No. 1 song in 1950)--he led a successful jazz trio which featured both his piano playing and ...
Bill Frisell: Music IS
by John Kelman
The tradition of solo jazz guitar recordings is a long one, with guitarists like Johnny Smith, Al Viola, George Van Eps, Lenny Breau and Joe Pass demonstrating just how far a mere six (in some cases, seven) strings could be taken on their own as far back as the 1950s. Subsequent guitar soloists like John Abercrombie ...
Steve Herberman, Hristo Vitchev, Rick Stone and Harvey Valdes
by Dom Minasi
Welcome back to Guitarists Rendezvous, our third installment in a series that introduces readers to emerging or established guitarists who fly just under the radar of public recognition. Each will field the same four questions and we've included audio and video so you can sample their music. This installment includes a diverse group ...
Recent Listening In Brief…
Frank Zappa (1940-1993), a gifted musician who dipped his toe into jazz, never demonstrated more than a smidgeon of what he knew about the genre. But he left us with the memorable observation, “Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny.” A web search shows that lesser wits have adapted Zappa’s line to all kinds of topics ...
Howard Alden - Andy Brown: Heavy Artillery
by Angelo Leonardi
Chi cerca indicazioni sulle nuove tendenze della chitarra jazz può anche cambiare pagina ma se volete deliziarvi con dell'ottimo straight-ahead jazz questo è il disco che fa per voi. La musica sa infatti coniugare perizia tecnica, feeling, gusto melodico, intenso drive e fantasia interpretativa. Protagonista dell'opera è un quartetto guidato da due chitarristi ...
Fred Fried: Core Bacharach
by Geannine Reid
As a kid in New York, Fred Fried enjoyed everything from early rock and roll to show tunes. He remembers listening to cast albums of Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story. He loved Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and pretended to conduct the orchestra in front of the record player. From age 12, Fried played clarinet ...
Jonathan Kreisberg: ONE
by John Kelman
The liner notes may say no overdubs or loops were used, but Jonathan Kreisberg might just as easily have included that “No guitars were harmed in the making of ONE." Beyond work with artists like vibraphonist Joe Locke on Sticks and Strings (Music Eyes, 2007) and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith on Spiral (Palmetto, 2010), the guitarist ...
Showcase
Premium
Contest Giveaway
Days remaining: 8
