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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holy Cow!, March 31, 2004
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.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real Solo Guitar by the Master, September 15, 2006
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.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do yourself a favor: get this NOW!, November 17, 2003
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!
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