After watching a video from Rick Beato on YouTube recently, in which he recommended quite a few albums. I was really intrigued with a lot of the jazz guitar he recommended, because that’s some incredibly awesome music to listen to, in my opinion. I may be quite biased, as I really do enjoy playing the guitar and expanded what I know is possible with that instrument. With that, I figured I would listen to some Joe Pass, and his 1973 album, Virtuoso. I’m guessing the album title will be an apt description of the music the album contains, so I’m quite excited.
“Night and Day” has a very warm acoustic sound to it right away. Wow, there could easily be two guitarists playing this right now, but I think it’s only Pass playing. This has a very nice smooth playing to it. Those little chromatic lines really give the song a great feeling, and when combined with the rest of the playing, give a really swirly jazziness to it.
“Stella By Starlight” has a really nice mellowness to it, but that’s not to say that the playing doesn’t get incredibly quick at times. This is almost challenging what I know about guitar playing – it’s super nice to hear just solo guitar being played on an album at times. Wow, this album has some really great feel to it. I’m getting lost in this music even more than I might usually listening to any given album. Wow, there are some very genuinely beautiful licks in this one.
Oh wow, “Here’s That Rainy Day”, brings in the electricity, with some strong mids and very clean tone on the guitar. The album is almost overflowing with music to me. I really dig those chromatic licks. Those fast moving chords really keep me intrigued into the next thing he’s playing, and Pass certainly knows how to lean in and out of a musical moment.
“My Old Flame” brings back that acousticness again, but wow. Pass is absolutely weaving his way up and down a guitar. This album is quite serene. I feel like I’m floating away while the music almost spins circles around me.
Wow, the transition to “How High the Moon” is really beautiful. You can hear the great amount of care that Joe seems to have put into his music. Honestly, it’s quite enjoyable to hear. Wow, there’s a really bluesy lick in this one. It almost woke me up in a certain way, only to listen even closer to what’s being played. This one is an awesome listen for both jazz fans and guitarists so far, in my opinion. There’s just a bit of bluesiness to this one that almost makes it seem a little different from the rest so far (in terms of sheer bluesiness, at least).
“Cherokee” almost has a bluegrassiness to it, in my opinion. I’m extremely impressed and absolutely blown away by Joe Pass at this point. Oh wow, the playing on this is absolutely stunning. I was so deep into jamming out with it that I didn’t even have time to think about what I could even possibly say, definitely a great track.
“Sweet Lorraine” definitely has a bit of a caring, almost caressing feel to it. I’m really getting lost in this album. Take my word for it, if you like jazz and/or guitar, this is an absolutely stupendous album.
“Have You Met Miss Jones?” is an awesome jazz tune. At this point, I’m completely lost in the album, and Pass is absolutely spinning my head in circles while spinning completely around me with his playing. You simply cannot predict what will come next, and that’s part of what makes both this album, and jazz, so extremely fun to listen to.
I didn’t even know the album had moved onto “‘Round Midnight” until it was almost at the halfway point of the song. It’s a really beautiful song to listen to, in my opinion. And it definitely has a feeling of being around the middle of the night, though that could just be me trying to connect dots between the title and the song. Either way, it’s very mellow, though still keeps a steady pace, and is absolutely beautiful.
“All the Things You Are” feels like a very personal song right away. It’s definitely a fun tune to listen to, though. I’m tapping along to it. The song sounds very human as well. I know that’s a very nondescript term for music if you haven’t heard this song, but to me, there’s just a great element of humanity in the song that really brings in a great wow factor.
“Blues for Alican” is pretty sweet. The blues always have such a tasty sound in my opinion, and this song brings that tastiness to an already delicious sounding jazz guitar album. Wow, this definitely has a class blues rock sort of sound to it, but it also sounds both acoustic and jazz at the same time. I know a lot of people talk about their love of blues a lot, but listening to a song like this totally makes sense why.
“The Song Is You” definitely has a sort of outro feeling to it. Almost like everything that needed to be said by Pass has been said through his guitar already, and now he’s just making a song for the joy and sake of making music. Really awesome tune. And Pass keeps wowing with his chops the whole time. Definitely a very beautiful song to my ears. Wow, this outro is so impressive; it’s like it visits all the places on the musical spectrum the rest of the album had visited along the way.
That was quite an impressive album. I’d agree that Joe Pass was indeed a virtuoso. That’ll take me a few listens to try to wrap my head around what was even being played at some parts. And being only one instrument the whole time, it was filled to the brim with great music and outstanding musical moments. This is a great listen for guitarists and jazz enthusiasts a like, and is definitely worth the 53 minutes for the listen.
-A