Search - Charlie Christian :: The Genius Of The Electric Guitar

The popularity of the electric guitar, the instrumental backbone of contemporary music, is unthinkable without Charlie Christian. In a career that lasted barely three years, Christian (1916-1942) established the amplified guitar as a viable solo instrument, and had a huge influence on subsequent innovations in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll (his significant role acknowledged by his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990). This four-CD set, Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar, released in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of his death, captures this young visionary's groundbreaking work with the most popular bandleader of the Swing Era, Benny Goodman, as well as important collaborations with Lester Young and Count Basie. This celebratory set returns this important music to official release once again.

If Christian's time in the spotlight was brief, it was also momentous, his arrival on the jazz scene in 1939 immediately shaking up guitarists as well as other open-eared instrumentalists who heard the revolutionary implications of his superb and imaginative playing.

Christian's role in the Benny Goodman Sextet, an offshoot of the superstar clarinetist's jazz orchestra, found him brilliantly mixing it up with the likes of former Ellington-band trumpeter Cootie Williams and the pioneering vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. On these brilliant performances, Christian exhibits a technical mastery and seamless swing, along with rhythmic, harmonic and melodic finesse, that no other previous electric guitarist had demonstrated. By turning up the juice, Christian had transformed his guitar into a horn, one whose new power could command attention in any ensemble.

A special treat is the addition of the rehearsal performance that included Christian with members of Count Basie's band, including Christian's main influence, the tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

With full discographical information, rare photos and liner notes by the Grammy-nominated scholar Peter Broadbent, this must-have set provides both an invaluable musical history lesson and a chance for pure listening pleasure provided by an immortal artist.

Box set includes:
1) The Benny Goodman Sextet - 1939
2) The Benny Goodman Sextet - 1940
3) The Benny Goodman Sextet - 1940-41
4) The Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Metronome All-Stars, and Rarities