Joe Pass

BIOGRAPHY

Joseph Anthony Passalaqua, also known as Joe Pass, was born on January 13, 1929 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a non-musical family and only started to play guitar after being inspired by actor Gene Autry's portrayal of guitar playing cowboy. On his 9th birthday, he got his first guitar bought for $17, a Harmony model. Pass' father recognized early that his son had "a little something happening" and pushing him constantly to pick up tunes by ear, play pieces not written specifically for the instrument, practice scales and not to "leave any spaces" - that is, to fill in the sonic space between the notes of the melody.

As early as 14, Pass started getting gigs and was playing with bands fronted by Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet, honing his guitar skills and learning the music business. He began traveling with small jazz groups and eventually moved from Pennsylvania to New York City. In a few years, he fell victim to drug abuse, and spent much of the 1950s in relative obscurity. Pass managed to emerge from it through a two-and-a-half-year stay at Synanon, drug rehabilitation program. During that time he returned to playing very slowly. In 1962 he recorded "The Sounds of Synanon".

In the 1960's Pass recorded a series of albums for the Pacific Jazz Label including the early classics "Catch Me," "12-String Guitar," "For Django," and "Simplicity." In 1963, Pass received Downbeat Magazine's "New Star Award." Pass was also featured on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. Pass toured with George Shearing in 1965. Mostly, however, during the 1960's he did TV and recording session work in Los Angeles.

He was a sideman with Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Della Reese, Johnny Mathis, and worked on TV shows including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Merv Griffin Show, The Steve Allen Show, and others. In the early 1970s, Pass and guitarist Herb Ellis were performing together regularly at Donte's jazz club in Los Angeles. This collaboration led to Pass and Ellis recording the very first album on the new Concord Jazz label, entitled simply "Jazz/Concord" (#CJS-1), along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jake Hanna. In the early 1970s, Pass also collaborated on a series of music books, and his Joe Pass Guitar Style (written with Bill Thrasher) is considered a leading improvisation textbook for students of jazz.

Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve Records signed Pass him to Granz's new Pablo Records label in 1970. In 1974, Pass released his landmark solo album "Virtuoso" on Pablo Records. Also in 1974, Pablo Records released the album "The Trio" featuring Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. "The Trio" won a Grammy award for best jazz performance. As part of the Pablo Records "stable," Pass also recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and others.

Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded four albums together on Pablo Records, toward the end of Fitzgerald's career. She had previously recorded several albums with just piano accompaniment, but a guitar proved to be a good melodic foil for her. They appeared together on the albums; Take Love Easy (1973), Easy Living (1986), Speak Love (1983) and Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976).

In addition to his ensemble performances, the jazz community regards Joe Pass as an influential solo guitarist. His solo style was marked by an advanced linear technique, sophisticated harmonic sense, counterpoint between improvised lead lines, bass figures and chords, spontaneous modulations, and transitions from fast tempos to rubato passages.

Pass's early style (influenced by guitarist Django Reinhardt and saxophonist Charlie Parker), was marked by fast single-note lines and a flowing melodic sense. Pass had the unusual lifelong habit of breaking his guitar picks in half and playing only with the smaller part. As Pass made the transition from ensemble to solo guitar performance, he preferred to abandon the pick altogether, and play fingerstyle. He found this enabled him to execute his harmonic concepts more effectively. His series of solo albums, "Virtuoso" (volumes 1 through 4) are a demonstration of Pass's refined technique. Pass remained very active up until his death from cancer in May 23, 1994.