|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Editorial Reviews
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: PASS,JOE
Title: VIRTUOSO
Street Release Date: 04/16/2001
Domestic
Genre: JAZZ
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: PASS,JOE
Title: VIRTUOSO
Street Release Date: 04/16/2001
Genre: JAZZ
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album will absolutely bowl you over. Joe Pass is one of the jazz guitar all-stars, and this album highlights his overwhelming technical brilliance. Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery may have a sweeter sound, but it is difficult for anyone to approach Pass' stunning dexterity. The album, which consists of Pass playing a number of standards without accompaniment (and no overdubbing, of course), shows that Pass complemented his fretboard wizardry with a solid ear for improvisation and melody. You'll get the occasional glimpse of rock'n roll influence as well. All in all, a staggering achievement. Highly recommended for jazz fans, and a must-own for the jazz guitar fan.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some reviewers apparently don't like unaccompanied guitar. However, to compare this to unaccompanied Miles on trumpet, or unaccompanied Sonny Rollins is a false analogy. No horn can play more than one note at a time, no chords, no bass lines. Only a guitar or a keyboard (or vibes) can do that. It's fair enough to say you don't like the sound of solo guitar. Not everyone likes harpsichord, or sackbut,or theorbo. However, if you do like guitar music this recording is the bible on how to play it "solo". Classical guitar is a different animal. Joe Pass played barely-amplified archtop jazz guitar,and no guitarist I've heard in my life played the "whole guitar" like him, not George VanEps, not Wes Montgomery. What I think is most stunning about his playing is the continous flow of ideas, weaving in and out of chords, single lines, bass, melody, rhythm. As some have pointed out, he had great respect for the melody and overall structure of the American Standard Tunes he played. Even though his substitutions and altered bebop-ish lines were breathtaking, you could still recognize the flow of the tune. There was plenty of speed and chops, but that's not what has moved me since I first heard him 30 years ago. You could tell his playing was largely improvised and every chorus had something new. I heard him play the same tunes many times, live and recorded, and each interpretation was different. He was playing at the speed of thought. More than anyone I've ever heard he sounded as if he could almost instantly transmit a creative idea from his "inner ear" to his fingers. It sounded like it was as easy as breathing. It sounded spectacular. He was the most natural guitarist I've ever heard.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The man's birth name was Joseph PASSALAQUA (NOT Pasquarella). I happen to appreciate the music of Jimi Hendrix AND that of Joe Pass. Hendrix's was more than three-chord music BTW, which you can tell if your ears aren't prejudiced. And even if it WAS three-chord music, well Joe and Ella and those other great jazz artists, they all loved the BLUES didn't they? The late Joe was openly interested in some of the most daring new generations of electrified guitarists, such as John McLaughlin, and probably even in Jimi too, so why not follow HIS example of openness?...
Those tracks are all pure, passionate blues originals and readings of jazz standards that transcend the genre. Played red hot, on the spot, on what sounds to me like a hollow-bodied electric guitar unplugged... or is it a slightly amplified acoustic steel string?... In any way, that setting was an ideal one - perhaps more captivating sonically than his other electric solo albums - that fits in well with the concept of the intimate studio recording.
I lack the technical knowledge to explain why it is so special a guitar album or just so special a music work, period. If you play guitar, it will no doubt make your hair stand on end and perhaps even have your whole body levitate for a little while... If you are just a music lover and if the concept of classical style guitar fingering applied to neo-bop jazz is appealing to you, you will find yourself playing this recording over and over and probably even humming or whistling along with it and learning by ear all sorts of beautiful little melodies and developments, on top of the already seductive repertoire of songs chosen for the set. Virtuoso goes beyond the jazz idiom and reaches into all kinds of stuff, classical styles but also folk music and blues. A sure winner!
Those tracks are all pure, passionate blues originals and readings of jazz standards that transcend the genre. Played red hot, on the spot, on what sounds to me like a hollow-bodied electric guitar unplugged... or is it a slightly amplified acoustic steel string?... In any way, that setting was an ideal one - perhaps more captivating sonically than his other electric solo albums - that fits in well with the concept of the intimate studio recording.
I lack the technical knowledge to explain why it is so special a guitar album or just so special a music work, period. If you play guitar, it will no doubt make your hair stand on end and perhaps even have your whole body levitate for a little while... If you are just a music lover and if the concept of classical style guitar fingering applied to neo-bop jazz is appealing to you, you will find yourself playing this recording over and over and probably even humming or whistling along with it and learning by ear all sorts of beautiful little melodies and developments, on top of the already seductive repertoire of songs chosen for the set. Virtuoso goes beyond the jazz idiom and reaches into all kinds of stuff, classical styles but also folk music and blues. A sure winner!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Virtuoso
The album is aptly named, as it proves Joe Pass' virtuosity beyond doubt. It's the album that made Pass a star, after some false starts and time in prison. Read more
Published 6 months ago by John H. Pendley
4.0 out of 5 stars
enjoyable but sparse
Joe Pass / Virtuoso: While I appreciate this guitar album, it is certainly true that the virtuoso could have used a little instrumental help. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Bynum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joe Pass was the textbook jazz guitarist
I am a jazz guitar player and "student" of Joe's recordings. I probably learned more about jazz chord work from this album as any album that I have owned. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Dave Lincoln
5.0 out of 5 stars
You don't have to be a guitarist to enjoy this
At a time when solo guitar albums were rare and jazz guitarists were adding rock styles and wa-wa pedals to their repertoire, Joe Pass sat alone in a studio with his traditional... Read more
Published 22 months ago by James A. Vedda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the most inspiring guitarist after Wes.
This a legendary album that ranks Joe Pass as one of the greatest and often underrated guitarists that ever lived. (Who else could back up Ella Fitzgerald solo????? Read more
Published on January 28, 2009 by Tom Z
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just like being there
I was privileged to hear Joe Pass play live, just about the time this album made him more visible to the world. This sounds and feels like that live event. Read more
Published on December 25, 2008 by Personne
2.0 out of 5 stars
Is scale playing music?
This CD is basically a recording of scale playing with not much attention
to melody or feeling. It was a showcase of technical talents and becomes
nerve wracking quickly. Read more
to melody or feeling. It was a showcase of technical talents and becomes
nerve wracking quickly. Read more
Published on May 15, 2008 by Mark Buckley
5.0 out of 5 stars
most listened to cd
After nearly 7 years after first discovering this cd, I simply cannot get over the brilliance of this recording. Read more
Published on October 22, 2007 by Bob Toddler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solo Guitar Pinnacle
How great can solo jazz guitar be?
This is the pinnacle from the master, and is the first Joe Pass solo CDs you should buy. Great imagination, control. Read more
This is the pinnacle from the master, and is the first Joe Pass solo CDs you should buy. Great imagination, control. Read more
Published on September 16, 2007 by David Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars
True to the word 'virtuoso'
Joe Pass's album was so liked when it came out he went on to record a bunch of sequels. So how does 52 minutes of solo guitar stand up? Read more
Published on March 17, 2007 by Anthony Cooper
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
