Progressions

Rating

Album: Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar [Long Box]
#	Song Title	Time
1)	St. Louis Tickle - Various Artists/Vess L. Ossman
2)	Chain Gang Blues - Sam Moore
3)	Savoy Blues - Johnny St. Clair/Lonnie Johnson
4)	You're the One For Me - Sol Hoopii
5)	Add a Little Wiggle - Eddie Lang
6)	Clowin' the Frets - Eddie Bush
7)	California Blues - King Benny Nawahi's Red Devils
8)	Dinah / How'nt I Doin' - Roy Smeck
9)	Who's Sorry Now - Eddie Condon
10)	Danzan - Carl Kress & Dick McDonough
11)	China Boy - Otto "Coco" Heimal
12)	Minnahaha - Sam Koki
13)	Swingin' on the Strings - The Ink Spots
14)	Honeysuckle Rose - Django Reinhardt
15)	Guitar Swing - Casey Bill Weldon
16)	Love Me or Leave Me - Eddie Durham/Freddie Green
17)	Whispering - Oscar Alem?n
18)	Pickin' For Patsy - Allan Reuss
19)	Little Rock Getaway - George Barnes
20)	Solo Flight - Charlie Christian
21)	Buck Jumpin' - Al Casey
22)	Twin Guitar Special - Leon McAuliffe/Eldon Shamblin
23)	I'm Walkin' This Town - Teddy Bunn
24)	Palm Springs Jump - Slim Gaillard
25)	Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You - Oscar Moore
26)	Red Cross - Tiny Grimes
1)	Ol' Man Rebop - Bill DeArango
2)	On Green Dolphin Street - Barney Kessel
3)	What Is This Thing Called Love - George Van Eps
4)	Body and Soul - Jimmy Raney
5)	My Baby Just Cares For Me - Chuck Wayne
6)	Runnin' Wild - Les Paul
7)	Mountain Melody - Les Paul
8)	Yardbird Suite - Tal Farlow
9)	Boy Nest Door, The - Johnny Smith
10)	Tocata - Laurindo Almeida
11)	I've Got You Under My Skin - Jim Hall
12)	Aguas de Marco (Waters of March) - Joao Gilberto
13)	Bluesette - Toots Thielemans
14)	Midnight Blue - Kenny Burrell
15)	Unit 7 - Wes Montgomery
16)	Naptown Blues - Herb Ellis
17)	Move - Hank Garland
18)	Easy Living - Howard Roberts
19)	Jean de Fleur - Grant Green
20)	Night and Day - Joe Pass
1)	Clockwise - George Benson
2)	Just Friends - Pat Martino
3)	Taste of Honey, A - Lenny Breau
4)	How Insensitive - Charlie Byrd
5)	Gypsy Queen - Gabor Szabo
6)	June 15, 1967 - Larry Coryell
7)	As We Used to Sing - Sonny Sharrock
8)	Should Be Reversed - Derek Bailey
9)	Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix
10)	Birds of Fire - John McLaughlin
11)	Coral - Mick Goodrick
12)	Ralph's Piano Waltz - John Abercrombie
13)	Prowler, The - Ralph Towner
14)	Bright Size Life - Pat Metheny
15)	Aqui, Oh - Toninho Horta
16)	Midnight in San Juan - Earl Klugh
1)	Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) - Carlos Santana
2)	Inner City Blues - Phil Upchurch
3)	Thumper - Eric Gale
4)	Spiral - Larry Carlton
5)	Captain Fingers - Lee Ritenour
6)	Mr. Spock - Allan Holdsworth
7)	Race With the Devil on Spanish Highway - Al Di Meola
8)	Cause We've Ended as Lovers - Jeff Beck
9)	Church - James Blood Ulmer
10)	Ron Carter - Bill Frisell
11)	Hottentot - John Scofield
12)	Postize - Marc Ribot
13)	Fat Time - Mike Stern

Album: Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar [Long Box]
#	Song Title	Time
1)	St. Louis Tickle - Various Artists/Vess L. Ossman
2)	Chain Gang Blues - Sam Moore
3)	Savoy Blues - Johnny St. Clair/Lonnie Johnson
4)	You're the One For Me - Sol Hoopii
5)	Add a Little Wiggle - Eddie Lang
6)	Clowin' the Frets - Eddie Bush
7)	California Blues - King Benny Nawahi's Red Devils
8)	Dinah / How'nt I Doin' - Roy Smeck
9)	Who's Sorry Now - Eddie Condon
10)	Danzan - Carl Kress & Dick McDonough
11)	China Boy - Otto "Coco" Heimal
12)	Minnahaha - Sam Koki
13)	Swingin' on the Strings - The Ink Spots
14)	Honeysuckle Rose - Django Reinhardt
15)	Guitar Swing - Casey Bill Weldon
16)	Love Me or Leave Me - Eddie Durham/Freddie Green
17)	Whispering - Oscar Alem?n
18)	Pickin' For Patsy - Allan Reuss
19)	Little Rock Getaway - George Barnes
20)	Solo Flight - Charlie Christian
21)	Buck Jumpin' - Al Casey
22)	Twin Guitar Special - Leon McAuliffe/Eldon Shamblin
23)	I'm Walkin' This Town - Teddy Bunn
24)	Palm Springs Jump - Slim Gaillard
25)	Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You - Oscar Moore
26)	Red Cross - Tiny Grimes
1)	Ol' Man Rebop - Bill DeArango
2)	On Green Dolphin Street - Barney Kessel
3)	What Is This Thing Called Love - George Van Eps
4)	Body and Soul - Jimmy Raney
5)	My Baby Just Cares For Me - Chuck Wayne
6)	Runnin' Wild - Les Paul
7)	Mountain Melody - Les Paul
8)	Yardbird Suite - Tal Farlow
9)	Boy Nest Door, The - Johnny Smith
10)	Tocata - Laurindo Almeida
11)	I've Got You Under My Skin - Jim Hall
12)	Aguas de Marco (Waters of March) - Joao Gilberto
13)	Bluesette - Toots Thielemans
14)	Midnight Blue - Kenny Burrell
15)	Unit 7 - Wes Montgomery
16)	Naptown Blues - Herb Ellis
17)	Move - Hank Garland
18)	Easy Living - Howard Roberts
19)	Jean de Fleur - Grant Green
20)	Night and Day - Joe Pass
1)	Clockwise - George Benson
2)	Just Friends - Pat Martino
3)	Taste of Honey, A - Lenny Breau
4)	How Insensitive - Charlie Byrd
5)	Gypsy Queen - Gabor Szabo
6)	June 15, 1967 - Larry Coryell
7)	As We Used to Sing - Sonny Sharrock
8)	Should Be Reversed - Derek Bailey
9)	Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix
10)	Birds of Fire - John McLaughlin
11)	Coral - Mick Goodrick
12)	Ralph's Piano Waltz - John Abercrombie
13)	Prowler, The - Ralph Towner
14)	Bright Size Life - Pat Metheny
15)	Aqui, Oh - Toninho Horta
16)	Midnight in San Juan - Earl Klugh
1)	Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) - Carlos Santana
2)	Inner City Blues - Phil Upchurch
3)	Thumper - Eric Gale
4)	Spiral - Larry Carlton
5)	Captain Fingers - Lee Ritenour
6)	Mr. Spock - Allan Holdsworth
7)	Race With the Devil on Spanish Highway - Al Di Meola
8)	Cause We've Ended as Lovers - Jeff Beck
9)	Church - James Blood Ulmer
10)	Ron Carter - Bill Frisell
11)	Hottentot - John Scofield
12)	Postize - Marc Ribot
13)	Fat Time - Mike Stern

Performer Notes

Liner Note Author: Charles Alexander.
This expansive four-disc anthology essentially covers the recorded history of the guitar in the 20th century, beginning with the ragtime banjo that set the table for the role of the guitar in a jazz setting in the early 1900s, and then touching all the bases clear through to the post-postmodern possibilities of the instrument in the 21st century. Don't let the subtitle throw you, though, because Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar interprets jazz guitar in the broadest of strokes, as it includes not only pantheon jazz players like Eddie Lang, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, and John McLaughlin but also provides an uncommon sweep by featuring Hawaiian stylists Roy Smeck and Sol Hoopii; Western swing aces Leon McAuliffe and Eldon Shamblin; country jazzman Hank Garland; rock virtuosos Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Jeff Beck; fusion funksters Larry Carlton, Al DiMeola, and Mike Stein; and hard to classify avant-garde players like Derek Bailey, Sonny Sharrock, James Blood Ulmer, and Marc Ribot. In all, 78 guitarists from some 33 labels are represented. Arranged roughly by date of recording from first to last (there are some deviations to trace the development of a particular style), it is easy to follow the track listing for Progressions in the well-organized 148-page book that accompanies the discs, and what emerges is a portrayal of the massive influence the guitar has had on every form of popular music in the past century. One could quibble about players who were left out, and things are slightly tilted toward electric players as the set progresses, although that is probably understandable, since getting the guitar plugged in is what made it work in large ensembles in the first place. It's hard to argue with a piano, but a case could be made (and this set assembles ample evidence) that the electric guitar was the defining popular musical instrument of the 20th century, and certainly the dominant ensemble instrument for the last half of it. Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar suggests that the possibilities for the guitar are far from exhausted as the musical time line begins to edge deeper into the 21st century. A beautiful set. ~ Steve Leggett

Professional Reviews

Down Beat (p.81) - 4.5 stars out of 5 - "[W]hat really juices this joint is the contributions from the relative unknowns who brought the six-string guitar away from its origins as poor relation to the banjo and the Hawaiian steel guitar and into its contemporary role..."

JazzTimes (p.93) - "For some, the stunning revelation here will be the masterful clarity of Barney Kessely. For others, it will be the sensuous ear candy of George Van Eps..."