Though I'll always worship the six-string rock maestros – Page, Clapton, Hendrix and an endless list of lesser-known masters – I've cultivated a deep interest in jazz guitarists of late. All of my favorites are old-school jazzmen: Grant Green, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and the like.
There's just something about the fluid, roundish tone of a hollow-body jazz guitar, played by someone who knows what it means to swing, to build tension, to alternate flurries of melody with laid-back grooves. Get a better understanding of what I'm saying by clicking on the arrow below and listening to Kenny Burrell take command of his instrument on the tune "Midnight Blue."