I’m only 3 artists into my list and I’m already getting it out of order.
But with good reason! (I think)
Today we’re backtracking a little bit to check out Nick Lucas.
Apparently “he was the first jazz guitarist to record as a soloist” and he had quite a bit of influence.
“In 1922, at the age of 25, he gained renown with his hit renditions of "Pickin' the Guitar" and "Teasin' the Frets" for Pathé.
In 1923, Gibson Guitars proposed to build him a concert guitar with a deeper body. Known as the "Nick Lucas Special," it became a popular model with guitarists. It was this guitar's outline that was later used as the basis for the Gibson Les Paul solidbody electric guitar.”
According to his own website :
“Without a doubt this had to be an influence on banjoists such as Eddie Lang, and also an inspiration for him to trade the banjo in for a guitar.
Eddie Lang would later elaborate on Lucas' fast bass runs and be remembered as being the father of jazz guitar, this makes Nick Lucas the Grandfather of jazz guitar.
Nick Lucas was the first to trade his banjo and replace it with guitar in the big name orchestras of the day. It took a few years for Nick’s contemporaries to emulate him on the instrument.”
You can check out the Eddie Lang post here if you haven’t already:
As I’m trying to plot out influences, paths and evolutions, it seemed only appropriate to make a quick U-turn in time.
This is probably not going to be the last time this happens…
Anyway, the tune I transcribed is that 1922 recording “Picking The Guitar”
It features some fast lines (just like Eddie Lang indeed), arpeggios, chord melodies and the good old boom-chick/stride/piedmont blues-ish rhythm.
So far it’s interesting to see that these guys used the “standard” drop 2 dominant chord and a lot of diminished chords.
This one also has some minor 6 chord though.
You can get the pdf here:
Next time, we shóuld be coming to Eddie Durham (sorry Eddie), but who knows.
Diving into this rabbit hole uncovers a lot of new artists, which is part of this whole deal.
One of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time invented many techniques