Transcribing my way through guitar history
Seven years ago, my friend Jorre started posting a couple of saxophone transcriptions on YouTube.
After a couple of months he asked me if I had any transcriptions laying around that I wanted to post as well.
Six years later we’re still running Sharp Eleven Music with almost 70k subscribers.
Every week we post a transcription in a rotating system, so Jorre will post one week, I will post the following week, and so on ad infinitum.
Transcribing for so long has taught me so much and frankly, it has provided me with interesting career opportunities.
However, after having transcribed so much for so long, I’m in need of a “greater goal” than just posting to YouTube (as helpful as it is for the people following us).
So, a couple of months ago I decided to transcribe my way through guitar history.
I started compiling a list of players (mainly from jazz, but also blues) and I decided I would use Substack as my vehicle for sharing the transcriptions.
To kick this series off, I thought I’d just share the list with you.
I did my very best of finding every obscure player, but I’m sure there are still plenty of players missing. But I can always add them when I come across them.
Why?
Of course, you may be asking yourself “why would you want to do such a thing?” (or maybe not and you just like the idea).
It’s my hope that I can clarify the evolutions that occurred throughout the times.
Make connections, show similarities, contrasts, et cetera.
There’s too much romanticizing and mystifying, in my opinion, when it comes to players from the past (and also present), that make it very difficult to see what they accomplished as attainable.
You can’t reach what you put on a pedestal.
So instead of gawking at what players were able to do and play, let’s dive deep into it and break it all down.
Think of it as making an inventory.
So without further ado, here’s…
The List
Lonnie Johnson (1899 - 1970)
Eddy Lang (1902 - 1933)
Eddie Durham (1906 - 1987)
Edward McIntosh "Snoozer" Quinn (1907 - 1949)
Carl Kress (1907 - 1965)
Leonard Ware (1909 - 1974)
Oscar Aleman (1909 - 1980)
Django Reinhardt (1910 - 1953)
Freddie Green (1911 - 1987)
John Collins (1913 - 2001)
George Van Eps (1913 - 1998)
Les Paul (1915 - 2009)
Oscar Moore (1916 - 1981)
Charlie Christian (1916 - 1942)
Floyd Smith (1917 - 1982)
Eldon Shamblin (1917 - 1998)
Laurindo Almeida (1917 - 1995)
Tony Mottola (1918 - 2004)
Al Viola (1919 - 2007)
Barry Galbraith (1919 - 1983)
Irving Ashby (1920 - 1987)
Tal Farlow (1921 - 1998)
George Barnes (1921 - 1977)
Mary Osborne (1921 - 1992)
Herb Ellis (1921 - 2010)
Mundell Lowe (1922 - 2017)
Luiz Bonfá (1922 - 2001)
Jimmy Wyble (1922 - 2010)
Johnny Smith (1922 - 2013)
Barney Kessel (1923 - 2004)
Wes Montgomery (1923 - 1968)
Chuck Wayne (1923 - 1997)
Chet Atkins (1924 - 2001)
Charlie Byrd (1925 - 1999)
Eddie Duran (1925 - 2019)
Bucky Pizzarelli (1926 - 2020)
Jimmy Raney (1927 - 1995)
Howard Roberts (1929 - 1992)
Joe Pass (1929 - 1994)
Jim Hall (1930 - 2013)
Hank Garland (1930 - 2004)
Kenny Burrell (1931)
Ed Bickert (1932 - 2019)
Billy Bean (1933 - 2012)
Grant Green (1935 - 1979)
Gene Bertoncini (1937)
Buddy Fite (1938 - 2001)
Boogaloo Joe Jones (1940)
Lenny Breau (1941 - 1984)
John McLaughlin (1942)
Philip Catherine (1942)
Lukács Kosta (1943 - 1993)
Larry Coryell (1943 - 2017)
George Benson (1943)
Pat Martino (1944 - 2021)
Jack Wilkins (1944)
Mick Goodrick (1945 - 2022)
Ted Greene (1946 - 2005)
Allan Holdsworth (1946 - 2017)
Larry Carlton (1948)
John Stowell (1950)
John Scofield (1951)
Bill Frisell (1951)
Eef Albers (1951)
Robben Ford (1951)
Tuck Andress (1952)
Lee Ritenour (1952)
Earl Klugh (1953)
Jimmy Bruno (1953)
Mike Stern (1953)
Lorne Lofsky (1954)
Scott Henderson (1954)
Carl Verheyen (1954)
Pat Metheny (1954)
Al DiMeola (1954)
Romero Lubambo (1955)
Tommy Emmanuel (1955)
Chuck Loeb (1955 - 2017)
Hiram Bullock (1955 - 2008)
Dean Brown (1955)
Martin Taylor (1956)
Doug Raney (1956 - 2016)
Wayne Krantz (1956)
Bruce Forman (1956)
Emily Remler (1957 - 1990)
Sid Jacobs (1958)
Corrado Rustici (1957)
Howard Alden (1958)
Frank Gambale (1958)
Michael Landau (1958)
Brian Setzer (1959)
Stanley Jordan (1959)
Ben Monder (1960)
Raphael Rabello (1962 - 1995)
John Pizzarelli (1962)
Russell Malone (1963)
Greg Howe (1963)
Brett Garsed (1963)
Shawn Lane (1963 - 2002)
Adam Rogers (1965)
Sheryl Bailey (1966)
T.J. Helmerich
Charlie Hunter (1967)
Peter Bernstein (1967)
Richard Hallebeek (1969)
Kurt Rosenwinkel (1970)
Oz Noy (1971)
Guthrie Govan (1971)
Jesse van Ruller (1972)
Jonathan Kreisberg (1972)
Lionel Loueke (1973)
Tim Miller (1973)
Lage Lund (1977)
Mike Moreno (1978)
Jaume Llombart (1980)
Diego Figueiredo (1980)
Gilad Hekselman (1983)
Josh Smith (1984)
Mark Lettieri (1984)
Julian Lage (1987)
Pasquale Grasso (1988)
Matteo Mancuso (1995)
As I said, there are probably a lot of players I’m still missing, but the list will get updated as I go along.
I’m also going to cover myself and not commit to a posting schedule.
The summer holiday is upon us, I’ve got some more time now (for now) and I don’t have to transcribe everyone on the list because I covered a lot of them already through the YouTube channel, but I know how things can get when summer’s over.
So, they’ll come when they come.
Hope to see you in the next one.
Timothy
Fantastic List of key players in the history of Jazz Guitar. May I also suggest the 4-part anthology, "Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar" box set as a good primer on the history and development of jazz guitar. Interestingly enough, the first artist listed is Vess Ossman, a BANJO player who influenced the ragtime sound of the very early days. https://www.discogs.com/release/5374112-Various-Progressions-100-Years-Of-Jazz-Guitar