Charlie Christian
The Genius Of Electric Guitar

In the 1920s and 1930s, the guitar was almost always relegated to accompaniment duties, and in exceptional cases, as a soloist, the sound was predominantly based on chords. Charlie Christian appeared with an electric guitar, a synthesis of technological progress, and some original insights, and his example was so convincing that a few years later almost all guitarists adopted a similar instrument and began to closely follow the moves of the Afro-American prodigy originally from Texas.

With his entrance onto the New York scene, Christian opened new frontiers for jazz, which until those years had not given the instrument much consideration. It is indeed worth mentioning, just to name a couple, the orchestras of Benny Goodman or Count Basie, in the 1930s, which represented the trend of the genre and gave special space to piano or wind instruments.

To be honest, the first true pioneer of the electric guitar was Eddie Durham, who had already incorporated it into the orchestra of Jimmy Lunceford in the mid-1930s. But Christian understood the amplification possibilities of the instrument, and thanks to the electric sound, he discovered a novel, robust timbre, almost similar to that of a tenor sax, and above all, the possibility of resorting to phrasing. Inspired by the lines of the famous Django Reinhardt, he gave the final touch to his style.

The recordings of "The Genius Of The Electric Guitar" were made between 1939 and 1941, a period during which Christian played in the band of Goodman (mythical clarinetist). The track "Seven Come Eleven" should be noted, as it contains the three key elements of most of his improvisations: the climactic effect insistence on a determined note. The use of the riff. The generous melodic phrasing effect. Thus, Christian demonstrated that the guitar can be an exceptional soloist in any situation.

For those who want to approach pre-bebop (that is, modern jazz), and love the sound of the electric guitar, this work is truly indicative. The tracks are imbued with melody (many of them have an orchestral origin), with linear rhythms and are free from excesses or virtuosities that might be appreciated only by "trained" ears. In essence, it is a form of jazz that is highly enjoyable even for listeners who understand the word jazz as a genre with structures that are difficult to assimilate.

The CD (the title remains the same even though the covers have different images) practically collects all the work of the artist and is available on the market in different editions. The historic house was CBS jazz, Sony reissued it in the 1980s, but other variants cannot be ruled out.

Charlie Christian died at only 26 years old in 1942. Unfortunately, he only had the chance to contribute to the dawn of modern jazz.