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Jazz guitarists are guitarists who play jazz using an approach to chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist ( rhythm guitar ) and soloist in small and large ensembles and also as an unaccompanied solo instrument.

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123-576: Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul , was an American jazz , country , and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier , and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul . Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. In

246-537: A "revolutionary in the music business". The Edge said, "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten." On August 21, 2009, he was buried in Prairie Home Cemetery, Waukesha, Wisconsin . A few of Les Paul's many awards are listed below. In 2007, he was given the National Medal of Arts from U.S. President George W. Bush . Paul

369-500: A French family of Manouche Romani descent. His French, Alsatian father, Jean Eugene Weiss, domiciled in Paris with his wife, went by Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, his wife's surname, to avoid French military conscription. His mother, Laurence Reinhardt, was a dancer. The birth certificate refers to "Jean Reinhart, son of Jean Baptiste Reinhart, artist, and Laurence Reinhart, housewife, domiciled in Paris". A number of authors have repeated

492-626: A Lifetime Achievement in Music Education from the Wisconsin Foundation for School Music. In 1960, he and Mary Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Jazz guitarist Until the 1930s, jazz bands used banjo because the banjo's metallic twang was easier to hear than the acoustic guitar when competing with trumpets, trombones, and drums. The banjo could be heard more easily, too, on wax cylinders in

615-400: A Long, Long Time ", which was a No. 1 hit in 1945. Paul recorded several albums for Decca in the 1940s. The Andrews Sisters hired his trio to open for them during a tour in 1946. Their manager, Lou Levy, said watching Paul's fingers while he played guitar was like watching a train go by. Their conductor, Vic Schoen , said his playing was always original. Maxine Andrews said, "He'd tune into

738-619: A brown Gypsy ID triangle sewn at chest level on their clothing, similar to the pink triangle that homosexuals wore, and much like the yellow Star of David that Jews had to subsequently wear. During the war, Romani were systematically killed in concentration camps . In France, they were used as slave labour on farms and in factories. During the Holocaust an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Romani throughout Europe were killed. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels viewed jazz as un-German counterculture . Nonetheless, Goebbels stopped short of

861-481: A common construction material often referred to as a “4×4 stud post”, which provided a unique neck-thru design. The “stud post” (a 4″ × 4″ section of Douglas fir ) was then equipped with a crude bridge and an electromagnetic pickup , neck and strings. The Log was constructed by Paul after-hours in the New York City Epiphone guitar factory, and is one of the first solid-body electric guitars. For

984-505: A complete array of natural and artificial harmonics, highly charged dissonances, super-fast chromatic runs from the open bass strings to the highest notes on the 1st string, an unbelievably flexible and driving right-hand, two and three octave arpeggios, advanced and unconventional chords and a use of the flattened fifth that predated be-bop by a decade. Add to all this Django's staggering harmonic and melodic concept, huge sound, pulsating swing, sense of humour and sheer speed of execution, and it

1107-571: A complete ban on jazz, which now had many fans in Germany and elsewhere. Official policy towards jazz was much less strict in occupied France, according to author Andy Fry, with jazz music frequently played on both Radio France , the official station of Vichy France, and Radio Paris , which was controlled by the Germans. A new generation of French jazz enthusiasts, the Zazous , had arisen and swollen

1230-439: A couple years before. Durham persuaded Floyd Smith to buy an electric guitar, and while on tour he showed his amp to Charlie Christian . Before Christian, George Barnes was experimenting with amplification in 1931. He claimed to be the first electric guitarist and the first to record with an electric guitar, on March 1, 1938, in sessions with blues guitarist Big Bill Broonzy fifteen days before Eddie Durham recorded with

1353-435: A day, five days a week, and therefore was used as a brief interlude or fill-in for programming schedules. Since Paul created the entire show himself, including audio and video, he maintained the original recordings and was in the process of restoring them to current quality standards until his death. During his radio shows, Paul introduced the fictional " Les Paulverizer " device, which multiplies anything fed into it, such as

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1476-506: A fascinating area of Reinhardt's work to study, and have begun to be revived by players such as the Rosenberg Trio (with their 2010 release "Djangologists") and Biréli Lagrène . Wayne Jefferies, in his article "Django's Forgotten Era", writes: Early in 1951, armed with his amplified Maccaferri – which he used to the very end – he put together a new band of the best young modern musicians in Paris; including Hubert Fol, an altoist in

1599-439: A featured spot with Fred Waring's radio show . Chet Atkins later wrote that his brother, home on a family visit, presented him with an expensive Gibson archtop guitar that Les Paul had given to Jim. Chet recalled that it was the first professional-quality instrument he ever owned. While jamming in his apartment basement in 1941, Paul nearly succumbed to electrocution. During two years of recuperation, he moved to Chicago where he

1722-461: A few years, pianist John Colianni . Paul, Pallo and Nowinski also performed at Fat Tuesdays . Composer Richard Stein sued Paul for plagiarism, charging that Paul's " Johnny (is the Boy for Me) " was taken from Stein's 1937 song "Sanie cu zurgălăi" (Romanian for "Sleigh with Bells"). In 2000, a cover version of "Johnny" by Belgian musical group Vaya Con Dios that credited Paul prompted another action by

1845-602: A freshness and spontaneity that are at once fascinating and alluring ... [Nevertheless] The characteristics of Reinhardt's music are primarily emotional. His relative association of experience, reinforced by a profound rational knowledge of his instrument; the guitar's possibilities and limitations; his love for music and the expression of it—all are a necessary adjunct to the means of expressing these emotions. Django-style enthusiast John Jorgenson has been quoted as saying: Django's guitar playing always has so much personality in it, and seems to contain such joy and feeling that it

1968-620: A guitar sound or a voice. It was Paul's way of explaining how his single guitar could be multiplied to become a group of guitars. The device even became the subject of comedy, with Ford multiplying herself and her vacuum cleaner with it so she could finish the housework faster. Later, Paul created a real Les Paulverizer that he attached to his guitar. The invention allowed Paul to access pre-recorded layers of songs during live performances so he could replicate his recorded sound on stage. In 1965, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to his studio occasionally. He and Ford had divorced at

2091-688: A hand-to-mouth existence, spending his earnings as quickly as he made them. Accompanying him on his travels was his new girlfriend, Sophie Ziegler. Nicknamed "Naguine," she was a distant cousin. In the years after the fire, Reinhardt was rehabilitating and experimenting on the guitar that his brother had given him. After having played a broad spectrum of music, he was introduced to American jazz by an acquaintance, Émile Savitry , whose record collection included such musical luminaries as Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington , Joe Venuti , Eddie Lang , and Lonnie Johnson . (The swinging sound of Venuti's jazz violin and Eddie Lang's virtuoso guitar-playing anticipated

2214-730: A horn player, which is where he got his inspiration. English guitarist Derek Bailey established his reputation as part of the European free jazz scene. Like Sharrock, he sought liberation for its own sake and the breaking of all conventions in the name of originality. He belonged to the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in the 1970s. Among the next generation of guitar players emerged See also Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( French: [dʒãŋɡo ʁɛjnaʁt] or [dʒɑ̃ɡo ʁenɑʁt] ),

2337-441: A hotel room. The show appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled Les Paul & Mary Ford at Home with "Vaya Con Dios" as the theme song . Sponsored by Warner–Lambert 's Listerine mouthwash , it was aired on NBC television during 1954–1955, and then was syndicated until 1960. The five-minute show, consisting of the performance of only one or two songs, aired five times

2460-575: A jam session and radio performance with Louis Armstrong . Later in his career, Reinhardt played with Dizzy Gillespie in France. Also in the neighborhood was the artistic salon R-26 , at which Reinhardt and Grappelli performed regularly as they developed their unique musical style. In 1938, Reinhardt's quintet played to thousands at an all-star show held in London's Kilburn State auditorium. While playing, he noticed American film actor Eddie Cantor in

2583-403: A large pick that was easier to hold in his arthritic hand. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammy Awards at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played . He also performed every Monday night at Manhattan's Iridium Jazz Club with guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Paul Nowinski (and later, Nicki Parrott ), and guitarist Frank Vignola and for

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2706-526: A meld of jazz and country improvisation with guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins , backed by some of Nashville 's celebrated studio musicians. In 1969 Paul produced the album Poe Through the Glass Prism for RCA. The album featured songs based on Edgar Allan Poe's writing by the northeastern Pennsylvania band the Glass Prism. The album produced a single titled "The Raven" that appeared on Billboard's Hot 100. As years progressed Paul played at slower tempos with

2829-641: A new six-string steel-strung acoustic guitar that was bought for him by his brother, Joseph Reinhardt , who was also an accomplished guitarist. Within a year of the fire, in 1929, Bella Mayer gave birth to their son, Henri "Lousson" Reinhardt . Soon thereafter, the couple split up. The son eventually took the surname of his mother's new husband. As Lousson Baumgartner, the son himself became an accomplished musician who went on to record with his biological father. After parting from his wife and son, Reinhardt traveled throughout France, getting occasional jobs playing music at small clubs. He had no specific goals, living

2952-508: A popular model among jazz guitarists. By 1934, largely due to Lang, guitar replaced the banjo as a jazz instrument. Django Reinhardt 's flashy style stood out in the early days of rhythm guitarists. He was born in Belgium to a gypsy family. His gypsy jazz was influenced by the flamenco guitar of Spanish gypsies and the violin of Hungarian gypsies. In the 1930s, he formed the Quintet of

3075-632: A reputation among his band, fans, and managers as extremely unreliable. He skipped sold-out concerts to "walk to the beach" or "smell the dew." During this period he continued to attend the R-26 artistic salon in Montmartre, improvising with his devoted collaborator, Stéphane Grappelli. In Rome in 1949, Reinhardt recruited three Italian jazz players (on bass, piano, and snare drum) and recorded over 60 tunes in an Italian studio. He united with Grappelli, and used his acoustic Selmer-Maccaferri. The recording

3198-582: A solo. Allan Reuss gave rhythm guitar a place in the big band of Benny Goodman . The first jazz guitarist to step from the rhythm section was Eddie Lang . Wanting to do more than strum chords for the band, Lang played single-string solos. He drew attention to himself while he was a member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and as a popular studio musician . Like most guitarists of the time, he started on banjo, and when he switched to guitar, many others followed. His Gibson L-5 archtop became

3321-491: A surviving photograph shows this band including his father on piano. Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, first playing the violin. At the age of 12, he received a banjo-guitar as a gift. He quickly taught himself to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he watched, who would have included local virtuoso players of the day such as Jean "Poulette" Castro and Auguste "Gusti" Malha, as well as from his uncle Guiligou, who played violin, banjo and guitar. Reinhardt

3444-550: A teen he had built a disc-cutter assembly using the flywheel from a Cadillac , a dental belt and other parts from his father's car repair shop. Years later in his Hollywood garage, he used the acetate disc setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs. In 1949, Crosby gave Paul one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel to reel tape recorders . Paul invented sound on sound recording using this machine by placing an additional playback head, located before

3567-401: A very different supporting group context from his "classic", pre-war Quintette sound). These "electric period" Reinhardt recordings have in general received less popular re-release and critical analysis than his pre-war releases (the latter also extending to the period from 1940 to 1945 when Grappelli was absent, which included some of his most famous compositions such as " Nuages "), but are also

3690-443: Is feasible for rhythm guitar accompaniment in some small groups playing in small venues. However, playing single note guitar solos audibly without an amplifier is a challenge in larger ensembles and in larger halls. Django Reinhardt 's Hot Club of France was a string quintet in which being heard over the other instruments was rarely a problem. Argentinian Oscar Alemán , who was in Paris at the same time as Reinhardt, tried to overcome

3813-430: Is infectious. He also pushes himself to the edge nearly all the time, and rides a wave of inspiration that sometimes gets dangerous. Even the few times he does not quite make his ideas flow out flawlessly it is still so exciting that mistakes don't matter! Django's seemingly never-ending bag of licks, tricks and colors always keep the song interesting, and his intensity level is rarely met by any guitarist. Django's technique

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3936-605: Is like chasing genius to get close to his level of playing. In his later style ( c.  1946 onwards) Reinhardt began to incorporate more bebop influences in his compositions and improvisations, also fitting a Stimer electric pickup to his acoustic guitar. With the addition of amplification, his playing became more linear and "horn like", with the greater facility of the amplified instrument for longer sustain and to be heard in quiet passages, and in general less reliance on his gypsy "bag of tricks" as developed for his acoustic guitar style (also, in some of his late recordings, with

4059-461: Is little wonder that guitar players were knocked sideways upon their first encounter with this full-blown genius. Because of his damaged left hand (his ring and pinky fingers helped little in his playing) Reinhardt had to modify both his chordal and melodic approach extensively. For chords he developed a novel system based largely around 3-note chords, each of which could serve as the equivalent of several conventional chords in different inversions; for

4182-458: Is not working as hard. The result is a singing style which diverged from the unamplified theater style of the musical comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. They also performed music-hall style semi-comic routines with Mary mimicking whatever line Les decided to improvise. Paul hosted a 15-minute radio program, The Les Paul Show , on NBC Radio in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics. The program

4305-570: Is stupefying, it is no less so than his creative invention. In his solos [...] his melodic ideas are sparkling and ravishing, and their abundance scarcely gives the listener time to catch his breath. Django's ability to bend his guitar to the most fantastic audacities, combined with his expressive inflections and vibrato, is no less wonderful; one feels an extraordinary flame burning through every note. Writing in 1945, Billy Neil and E. Gates stated that Reinhardt set new standards by an almost incredible and hitherto unthought-of technique ... His ideas have

4428-658: The New Jersey Hall of Fame (2010). Two of his songs entered the Grammy Hall of Fame : " How High the Moon " and " Vaya Con Dios ". In 1976, he and Chet Atkins received the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental . In 2005, he won Best Pop Instrumental for "Caravan" and Best Rock Instrumental for "69 Freedom Special." In 1983, Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement. In 2001, he

4551-467: The master . This was the first time he used multitracking in a recording. His early multitrack recordings, including "Lover" and "Brazil", were made with acetate discs . He recorded a track onto a disk, then recorded himself playing another part with the first. He built the multitrack recording with overlaid tracks rather than parallel ones as he did later. By the time he had a result that satisfied him, he had discarded some five hundred recording disks. As

4674-683: The 1934 Chicago World's Fair. While in Chicago, Paul learned jazz from the great performers on Chicago's Southside. During the day, he played country music as Rhubarb Red on the radio. At night, he was Les Paul, playing jazz. He met pianist Art Tatum , whose playing influenced him to continue with the guitar rather than play jazz on the piano. His first two records were released in 1936, credited to "Rhubarb Red", Paul's hillbilly alter ego. He also served as an accompanist for other bands signed to Decca . During this time, he began adding different sounds and adopted his stage name of Les Paul. Paul's guitar style

4797-520: The 1950s, he and his wife, singer and guitarist Mary Ford , recorded numerous records, selling millions of copies. Paul is credited with many recording innovations. His early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound ), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing , and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention. His licks , trills , chording sequences, fretting techniques, and timing set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of

4920-402: The 1980s that was inspired by John Coltrane. Lee Ritenour is among the most popular jazz fusion guitarists. He established his name in the 1970s as a busy studio musician who recorded with acts in many genres. During the 1980s Stanley Jordan was the first to extend the hammer-on technique into his entire playing style. Jordan tapped the fretboard with the fingertips of both hands, playing

5043-471: The 1980s. Bill Frisell , John Scofield and Pat Metheny are the most importan guitar players of the last 40 years. All were born at the beginning of the fifties and Influences from free jazz in the 1960s made its way to the guitar. Sonny Sharrock used dissonance, distortion effects units, and other electronic gear to create sonic "sheets of noise" that drove some listeners away when he performed at festivals. He refused to play chords, calling himself

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5166-629: The Andrews Sisters . In January 1948, Paul shattered his right arm and elbow among multiple injuries in a near-fatal automobile accident on an icy Route 66 west of Davenport , Oklahoma . Mary Ford was driving the Buick convertible, which plunged off the side of a railroad overpass and dropped twenty feet into a ravine. They were returning from Wisconsin to Los Angeles after visiting family. Doctors at Oklahoma City's Wesley Hospital told Paul that they could not rebuild his elbow. Their other option

5289-695: The Charlie Parker mould. Although Django was twenty years older than the rest of the band, he was completely in command of the modern style. Whilst his solos became less chordal and his lines more Christian -like, he retained his originality. I believe he should be rated much more highly as a be-bop guitarist. His infallible technique, his daring, 'on the edge' improvisations coupled with his vastly advanced harmonic sense, took him to musical heights that Christian and many other Bop musicians never came near. The live cuts from Club St. Germain in February 1951 are

5412-603: The Hot Club of France , consisting of three acoustic guitars, a violin, and a double bass. He toured the U.S. in 1946 with Duke Ellington. The gypsy jazz tradition has a small but loyal following that continued in the work of the Ferré family , the Schmitt family , Angelo Debarre , Christian Escoudé , Fapy Lafertin , Biréli Lagrène , Jon Larsen , Jimmy Rosenberg , and Stephane Wrembel . Playing an unamplified archtop guitar

5535-550: The Kansas City Five. Many musicians were inspired to pick up guitar after hearing Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman orchestra. Christian was the first person to explore the possibilities created by the electric guitar. He had large audiences when he played solos with passing chords . According to jazz critic Leonard Feather , Christian played a single-note line alongside a trumpet and saxophone, moving

5658-960: The Les Paul Foundation, which was designed to remain dormant until his death. The Les Paul Foundation aims to inspire innovative and creative thinking by sharing the legacy of Les Paul through support of music education, recording, innovation, and medical research related to hearing. The Foundation established the Les Paul Innovation Award in 1991 and the Les Paul Spirit Award in 2016. On August 12, 2009, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York . After hearing about his death, many musicians commented on his importance. Slash called him "vibrant and full of positive energy", while Richie Sambora called him

5781-493: The Romanian Musical Performing and Mechanical Rights Society. Les Paul married Virginia Webb in 1937. They had two children, Les Paul Jr. (Rusty) (1941–2015), and Gene (1944), who was named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart . After getting divorced in 1949, Paul married Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers). The best man and matron of honor were the parents of guitarist Steve Miller , whose family

5904-595: The SG), but then still bearing the Les Paul name. Not liking the new look and severe problems with the strength of the body and neck, made Paul dissatisfied with this new Gibson guitar. This, and a pending divorce from Mary Ford , led to Paul ending his endorsement and use of his name on Gibson guitars from 1964 until 1966, by which time his divorce was completed. Paul continued to suggest technical improvements, although they were not always successful commercially. In 1962, Paul

6027-580: The Tulips ". Both the song and singing style were borrowed decades later by Tiny Tim . Early jazz guitarists were meant to be part of the rhythm section. Freddie Green played rhythm guitar for the Count Basie Orchestra from the 1930s until Basie's death in the 1980s, contributing to the band's swing by inverting chords, also known as revoicing , on each beat. Like Green, Eddie Condon played rhythm guitar his whole career without taking

6150-694: The UK. In the autumn of 1946, he made his first tour in the United States, debuting at Cleveland Music Hall as a special guest soloist with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. He played with many musicians and composers, such as Maury Deutsch . At the end of the tour, Reinhardt played two nights at Carnegie Hall in New York City; he received a great ovation and took six curtain calls on the first night. Despite his pride in touring with Ellington (one of two letters to Grappelli relates his excitement), he

6273-620: The United States, could scarcely believe what they heard on the records that the Quintette was making; guitarist, gypsy jazz enthusiast and educator Ian Cruickshank writes: It wasn't until 1938, and the Quintet's first tour of England, that guitarists [in the U.K.] were able to witness Django's amazing abilities. His hugely innovative technique included, on a grand scale, such unheard of devices as melodies played in octaves, tremolo chords with shifting notes that sounded like whole horn sections,

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6396-542: The abstraction of Konitiz and Warne Marsh to the guitar. Although Jimmy Raney was influenced by Tristano, his harmonies were more subtle and logical. Johnny Smith carried this love of harmony into a romantic, chordal style, as in his hit ballad " Moonlight in Vermont ". Tal Farlow avoided the abstraction of Tristano. Farlow blamed his ability to play quickly on the need to keep up with bandleader Red Norvo . Wes Montgomery , Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall are perhaps

6519-410: The age of 17, Reinhardt married Florine "Bella" Mayer, a girl from the same Romani settlement, according to Romani custom (although not an official marriage under French law). The following year he recorded for the first time. On these recordings, made in 1928, Reinhardt plays the "banjo" (actually the banjo-guitar) accompanying the accordionists Maurice Alexander, Jean Vaissade and Victor Marceau, and

6642-413: The aid of a cane. More crucial to his music, the fourth and fifth fingers (ring and little fingers) of Reinhardt's left hand were badly burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again. During many months of recuperation, Reinhardt retaught himself to play using primarily the index and middle fingers of his left hand, using the two injured fingers only for chord work. He made use of

6765-536: The benefit of his expertise. His experiments included microphone placement, track speed, and recording overdubs. These methods resulted in a clarity previously unheard in this type of multitrack recording. People began to consider his recording techniques as instruments—as important to production as a guitar, bass, or drums. Capitol Records released " Lover (When You're Near Me) ", on which Paul played eight different parts on electric guitar, some recorded at half-speed, hence "double-fast" when played back at normal speed for

6888-425: The caravan. He knocked over a candle, which ignited the extremely flammable celluloid that his wife used to make artificial flowers. The wagon was quickly engulfed in flames. The couple escaped, but Reinhardt suffered extensive burns over half his body. During his 18-month hospitalization, doctors recommended amputation of his badly damaged right leg. Reinhardt refused the surgery and was eventually able to walk with

7011-481: The conventional erase/record/playback heads. This allowed Paul to play along with a previously recorded track, both of which were mixed together onto a new track. The Ampex was a monophonic tape recorder with only one track across the entire width of quarter-inch tape, and therefore, the recording was "destructive" in the sense that the original recording was permanently replaced with the new, mixed recording. He eventually enhanced this by using one tape machine to play back

7134-478: The delicacy of his style. He had been promised jobs in California, but they failed to develop. Tired of waiting, Reinhardt returned to France in February 1947. After his return, Reinhardt appeared to find it difficult to adjust. He sometimes showed up for scheduled concerts without a guitar or amplifier, or wandered off to the park or beach. On a few occasions he refused to get out of bed. Reinhardt developed

7257-492: The duration of the war. Reinhardt re-formed the quintet, with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet replacing Grappelli. While he tried to continue with his music, war with the Nazis presented Reinhardt with a potentially catastrophic obstacle, as he was a Romani jazz musician. Beginning in 1933, all German Romani were barred from living in cities, herded into settlement camps, and routinely sterilized . Romani men were required to wear

7380-427: The early days of audio recording. The invention of the archtop increased the guitar's volume. In the hands of Eddie Lang it became a solo instrument for the first time. Following the lead of Lang, musicians traded their banjos for guitars, and by the 1930s the banjo hardly existed as a jazz instrument. Charlie Christian was the first guitarist to explore the possibilities created by amplification. Although his career

7503-498: The end of 1964 after she became tired of touring. One of Paul's most recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s was an album for London Records / Phase 4 Stereo , Les Paul Now (1968), on which he updated some of his earlier hits. Paul played the initial guitar track, and George Barnes laid down the additional tracks while Paul engineered in his home studio. He also recorded two albums, Chester and Lester (1976) and Guitar Monsters (1978), for RCA Victor , comprising

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7626-474: The fingerboard, as opposed to the more conventional "box" approach of moving across strings within a single fretboard position (location). He also produced some of his characteristic "effects" by moving a fixed shape (such as a diminished chord) rapidly up and down the fretboard, resulting in what one writer has called "intervallic cycling of melodic motifs and chords". For an unsurpassed insight into these techniques in use, interested persons should not miss viewing

7749-730: The first recording by the Quintette. In both years the great majority of their recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, and other instruments, but the all-string instrumentation is the one most often adopted by emulators of the Hot Club sound. Decca Records in the United States released three records of Quintette tunes with Reinhardt on guitar, and one other, credited to "Stephane Grappelli & His Hot 4 with Django Reinhardt", in 1935. Reinhardt also played and recorded with many American jazz musicians, such as Adelaide Hall , Coleman Hawkins , Benny Carter , and Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris). He participated in

7872-546: The front row. When their set ended, Cantor rose to his feet, then went up on stage and kissed Reinhardt's hand, paying no concern to the audience. A few weeks later the quintet played at the London Palladium . When World War II broke out, the original quintet was on tour in the United Kingdom. Reinhardt returned to Paris at once, leaving his wife in the UK. Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom for

7995-458: The guitar away from its secondary role in the rhythm section. He tried diminished and augmented chords. His rhythm suggested bebop . While in New York City, he spent many late hours at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, playing with musicians such as Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie . Although Charlie Christian had a brief career (1939-1941), his impact was big enough that some critics divide

8118-597: The harmonica. After learning the piano, he switched to the banjo and guitar. During this time, Paul invented a neck-worn harmonica holder, which allowed him to play both sides of the harmonica, hands-free, while performing on the banjo and guitar. Les Paul's hands-free design is still widely manufactured today. By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. While playing at Waukesha area drive-ins and roadhouses , Paul began his first experiment with sound. Wanting to make his acoustic guitar heard by more people at

8241-499: The history of jazz guitar into pre-Christian and post-Christian eras. Mary Osborne saw Christian perform when he visited her home state of North Dakota in 1938. The performance inspired her to buy an electric guitar. Oscar Moore , Irving Ashby , and John Collins were the successive guitarists for the Nat King Cole Trio who helped establish this kind of jazz trio format. In the early 1940s, Al Casey contributed to

8364-533: The inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles , California , on July 2, 1944. His solo on " Body and Soul " is a demonstration of his admiration for and emulation of Django Reinhardt, as well as his development of original lines. Also that year, Paul's trio appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show. Crosby sponsored Paul's recordings. They recorded together several times, including " It's Been

8487-455: The intermingling was fruitful for both genres. Brazilian guitarists include João Gilberto , Baden Powell de Aquino , and Bola Sete . When rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix became popular in the 1960s, he created the persona of the guitar hero, the charismatic solo guitarist dazzling the audience. He created possibilities on guitar through the use of electronic effect units . Hendrix inspired many musicians to pick up electric guitar. One of them

8610-412: The last few months of his life, he had begun moving in a new musical direction, in which he assimilated the vocabulary of bebop and fused it with his own melodic style. On 16 May 1953, while walking home from Fontainebleau–Avon station after playing in a Paris club, he collapsed outside his house from a brain hemorrhage . It was a Saturday, and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive. Reinhardt

8733-764: The liveliness of the Fats Waller Trio, while Tiny Grimes played electric four-string tenor guitar with the Art Tatum Trio. Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis continued the swing aspect of Christian's music into the 1950s. As the swing era turned to bebop, guitarists moved away from Charlie Christian's style. Two pioneers of bebop, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie , recorded with young guitarists Bill DeArango and Remo Palmier and inspired Chuck Wayne to change his approach. Billy Bauer explored unconventional territory with Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz , playing dissonant chords and trying to adapt

8856-567: The local venues, he wired a phonograph needle to his guitar and connected it to a radio speaker. As a teen Paul experimented with sustain by using a 2-foot piece of rail from a nearby train line. At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after he dropped out of high school to team up with Sunny Joe Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis , Missouri, on KMOX . Paul and Wolverton moved to Chicago in 1934, where they continued to perform country music on radio station WBBM and at

8979-410: The microphone is less than 6 inches (15 cm) from the singer's mouth. This produces a more intimate, less reverberant sound than when a singer is 1 foot (30 cm) or more from the microphone. When using a pressure-gradient (uni- or bi-directional) microphone, it emphasizes low-frequency sounds in the voice due to the microphone's proximity effect and gives a more relaxed feel because the performer

9102-664: The more famous sound of Reinhardt and Grappelli's later ensemble.) Hearing their music triggered in Reinhardt a vision and goal of becoming a jazz professional. While developing his interest in jazz, Reinhardt met Stéphane Grappelli , a young violinist with similar musical interests. In 1928, Grappelli had been a member of the orchestra at the Ambassador Hotel while bandleader Paul Whiteman and Joe Venuti were performing there. In early 1934 both Reinhardt and Grappelli were members of Louis Vola 's band. From 1934 until

9225-452: The most import jazz guitar players of the sixties and of the following decades. Bossa nova became popular in the early 1960s. The album Jazz Samba , released by Verve records in 1962, by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd mixed jazz and samba. Two years with the album Getz/Gilberto with some compositions of by Antonio Carlos Jobim , among wich " The Girl from Ipanema ", the bossa nova exploded. Although bossa nova isn't synonymous with jazz,

9348-506: The music industry with his New Sound in 1948. Paul recorded several songs with Bing Crosby, most notably " It's Been a Long, Long Time ," which was a number-one single in 1945. After a recording session, Bing Crosby suggested that Paul build a recording studio so he could produce the sound he wanted. Paul started his studio in the garage of his home on North Curson Street in Hollywood. The studio drew many vocalists and musicians who wanted

9471-424: The neck of the guitar like a piano. Others using tapping techniques to a lesser degree included David Torn and Tuck Andress . Some fusion guitarists reacted against the excesses of their predecessors by playing in a more restrained style. These included Larry Carlton , Steve Khan , and Terje Rypdal . Mike Stern began his career with the band Blood, Sweat & Tears , then was a member of Miles Davis's band in

9594-466: The night by Swiss border guards, who forced him to return to Paris again. One of his tunes, 1940's "Nuages", became an unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation. During a concert at the Salle Pleyel , the popularity of the tune was such that the crowd made him replay it three times in a row. The single sold over 100,000 copies. After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in

9717-535: The only known synchronised (sound and vision) footage of Reinhardt in performance, playing on an instrumental version of the song "J'Attendrai" for the short jazz film Le Jazz Hot in 1938–39 (copies available on YouTube and elsewhere). Hugues Panassié , in his 1942 book The Real Jazz , wrote: First of all, his instrumental technique is vastly superior to that of all other jazz guitarists. This technique permits him to play with an inconceivable velocity and makes his instrument completely versatile. Though his virtuosity

9840-409: The original recording and a second to record the combined track. This preserved the original recording. In 1952, Paul invented the flange effect , wherein two recordings of the same sound run slightly asynchronously, causing phase cancellations that sweep through the frequency range. The first example of this can be heard on his song "Mammy's Boogie". Observing film recordings inspired Paul to design

9963-902: The outbreak of World War II in 1939, Reinhardt and Grappelli worked together as the principal soloists of their newly formed quintet, the Quintette du Hot Club de France , in Paris. It became the most accomplished and innovative European jazz group of the period. Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput also played on guitar, and Louis Vola was on bass. The Quintette was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of stringed instruments. In Paris on 14 March 1933, Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and guitar support. He used three guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass. In August 1934, he made other recordings with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Reinhardt), including

10086-403: The outside world via the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Despite his left hand handicap, Reinhardt was able to recapture (in modified form) and then surpass his previous level of proficiency on the guitar (by now his main instrument), not only as a lead instrumental voice but also as a driving and harmonically interesting rhythm player; his virtuosity, incorporating many gypsy-derived influences,

10209-437: The passages we were singing and lightly play the melody, sometimes in harmony. We'd sing these fancy licks and he'd keep up with us note for note in exactly the same rhythm... almost contributing a fourth voice. But he never once took the attention away from what we were doing. He did everything he could to make us sound better." In the 1950s, when he recorded Mary Ford's vocals on multiple tracks, he created music that sounded like

10332-758: The present day. Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed . Paul is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame . Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha , Wisconsin, to George and Evelyn (Stutz) Polsfuss, both of German ancestry. Paul's mother

10455-478: The problem of audibility by using a resonator guitar , as did Eddie Durham , an arranger and trombonist with the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra who also played guitar. Durham experimented with amplification and became the first person to make audio recordings with electric guitar when he recorded with the Kansas City Five in the 1930s. He played a Gibson ES-150 arched-top which Gibson had started producing

10578-592: The ranks of the Hot Club. In addition to the increased interest, many American musicians based in Paris during the thirties had returned to the US at the beginning of the war, leaving more work for French musicians. Reinhardt was the most famous jazz musician in Europe at the time, working steadily during the early war years and earning a great deal of money, yet always under threat. Reinhardt expanded his musical horizons during this period. Using an early amplification system, he

10701-411: The sake of appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar sawn lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback , as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body. These instruments were constantly being improved and modified over

10824-408: The singer Maurice Chaumel. His name was now drawing international attention, such as from British bandleader Jack Hylton , who came to France just to hear him play. Hylton offered him a job on the spot, and Reinhardt accepted. Before he had a chance to start with the band, Reinhardt nearly died. On the night of 2 November 1928, Reinhardt was going to bed in the wagon that he and his wife shared in

10947-484: The stacking of eight tape recorders. He worked with Ross Snyder on the design of the first eight-track recording deck built for him by Ampex for his home studio. Rein Narma built a custom 8-channel mixing console for him. The mixing board included in-line equalization and vibrato effects. He named the recorder "The Octopus" and the mixing console "The Monster". The name "octopus" was inspired by comedian W. C. Fields , who

11070-587: The stage name Mary Ford . They married in Milwaukee in 1949. Their hits included " How High the Moon ", " Bye Bye Blues ", "Song in Blue", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", " The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise ", and " Vaya con Dios ". The songs were recorded with multiple tracks where Ford harmonized with herself and Paul played multiple layers of guitars. They used the recording technique known as close miking where

11193-474: The suggestion that Reinhardt's nickname, Django, is Romani for "I awake"; it may also simply have been a diminutive, or local Walloon version, of "Jean". Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing the violin, banjo and guitar. He became adept at stealing chickens. His father reportedly played music in a family band comprising himself and seven brothers;

11316-455: The treble notes he could employ his ring and little fingers to fret the relevant high strings even though he could not articulate these fingers independently, while in some chords he also employed his left hand thumb on the lowest string. Within his rapid melodic runs he frequently incorporated arpeggios, which could be played using two notes per string (played with his two "good" fingers, being his index and middle fingers) while shifting up or down

11439-460: The woes of the war that weighed on people's souls—and then transcended it all. Biographer Michael Dregni In 1943, Reinhardt married his long-term partner Sophie "Naguine" Ziegler in Salbris . They had a son, Babik Reinhardt , who became a respected guitarist. At that time the tide of war turned against the Germans, with a considerable darkening of the situation in Paris. Severe rationing

11562-636: The world has been influenced by Reinhardt. Over the last few decades, annual Django festivals have been held throughout Europe and the U.S., and a biography has been written about his life. In February 2017, the Berlin International Film Festival held the world premiere of the French biographical film Django , based on Reinhardt's life. Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies , Pont-à-Celles , Belgium, into

11685-605: The years, and Paul continued to use them in his recordings even after the development of his eponymous Gibson model. Paul approached the Gibson Guitar Corporation with his idea of a solid-body electric guitar in 1941, but Gibson showed no interest until Fender began marketing its Esquire and Broadcaster guitars in 1950 (the Broadcaster was renamed the Telecaster in 1952). Gibson's Ted McCarty

11808-456: Was Larry Coryell , who combined jazz and rock in the 1960s before the term jazz fusion was common. English guitarist John McLaughlin followed Coryell and Hendrix, but he explored other styles, too, such as blues , electronic, folk, free jazz , gypsy jazz , and Indian music . McLaughlin recorded an album of acoustic jazz in the early 1980s with guitarists Paco de Lucia and Al Di Meola . English guitarist Allan Holdsworth played jazz rock in

11931-687: Was Nick Lucas , the dominant guitarist of the 1920s, when he released "Pickin' the Guitar" and "Teasin' the Frets" in 1922. He had experimented with wax cylinders ten years earlier. He became the first person to have a custom guitar named after him, the Gibson Nick Lucas Special. Nevertheless, his career was built on his reputation as a singer. He was popular on radio, Broadway, and in vaudeville. With his high-pitched voice, he sold eight million copies of his signature song, " Tiptoe Through

12054-411: Was amputation . Paul was flown to Los Angeles, where his arm was set at an angle—just over 90 degrees—that allowed him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him nearly a year and a half to recover. In 1940, Les Paul revisited his experiments with the train rail. This time he created a similar prototype instrument, a one-off solid-body electric guitar known as "The Log", which was manufactured utilizing

12177-500: Was a Belgian-French Manouche or Sinti jazz guitarist and composer. Since he was born on Belgian soil, in Liberchies , he is also often named a Belgian musician. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most significant exponents. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli , Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group

12300-406: Was able to make a living playing music by the time he was 15, busking in cafés, often with his brother Joseph. At this time, he had not started playing jazz, although he had probably heard and had been intrigued by the version of jazz played by American expatriate bands like Billy Arnold's . Reinhardt received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life. At

12423-536: Was able to work in more of a big-band format, in large ensembles with horn sections. He also experimented with classical composition, writing a Mass for the Gypsies and a symphony. Since he did not read music, Reinhardt worked with an assistant to notate what he was improvising. His modernist piece "Rythme Futur" was also intended to be acceptable to the Nazis. In this ["Nuages"] graceful and eloquent melody, Django evoked

12546-568: Was also matched with a superb sense of melodic invention as well as general musicality in terms of choice of notes, timing, dynamics, and utilizing the maximum tonal range from an instrument previously thought of by many critics as potentially limited in expression. Playing completely by ear (he could neither read nor write music), he roamed freely across the full range of the fretboard giving full flight to his musical imagination and could play with ease in any key. Guitarists, particularly in Britain and

12669-610: Was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians, including Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter , and briefly toured the United States with Duke Ellington 's orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of 43. Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz , including " Minor Swing ", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and " Nuages ". The jazz guitarist Frank Vignola said that nearly every major popular music guitarist in

12792-468: Was brief, it was influential enough for critics to divide the history of jazz guitar into pre-Christian and post-Christian eras. In early days of jazz in New Orleans, most bands had guitarists, but there are no recordings by Lorenzo Staulz, Rene Baptiste, Dominick Barocco, Joe Guiffre, Coochie Martin, and Brock Mumford. Buddy Bolden , one of the earliest jazz musicians, played in a band in 1889 that

12915-514: Was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau, at the age of 43. Reinhardt developed his initial musical approach via tutoring by relatives and exposure to other gypsy guitar players of the day, then playing the banjo-guitar alongside accordionists in the world of the Paris bal musette . He played mainly with a plectrum for maximum volume and attack (particularly in the 1920s and early 1930s when amplification in venues

13038-611: Was from Milwaukee . Paul was Miller's godfather and his first guitar teacher. Ford gave birth to their first child on November 30, 1954, but the girl was born prematurely and died when she was four days old. They adopted a girl, Colleen, in 1958, and their son, Robert (Bobby), was born the following year. Paul and Ford divorced in December 1964. Paul and Ford maintained a house in Mahwah, New Jersey , and after their divorce Ford lived there until her death in 1977. In 1995, Paul established

13161-578: Was further developed by others, most successfully Ned Steinberger . A less-expensive version of the Les Paul guitar is manufactured for Gibson's Epiphone brand. Paul first experimented with sound on sound while in elementary school when he punched holes in the piano roll for his mother's player piano . In 1946, his mother complimented him on a song she had heard on the radio, when in fact she had heard George Barnes, not Paul. This motivated Paul to spend two years in his Hollywood garage recording studio, creating his unique sound, his New Sound. Paul stunned

13284-584: Was honored with the Special Merit/ Technical Grammy Award , which recognizes "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology," a select award given to masters of audio innovation including Thomas Alva Edison , Leo Fender , and Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick . In 2004, he received an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in Engineering and

13407-409: Was in place, and members of Reinhardt's circle were being captured by the Nazis or joining the resistance. Reinhardt's first attempt at escape from Occupied France led to capture. Fortunately for him, a jazz-loving German, Luftwaffe officer Dietrich Schulz-Köhn  [ de ] , allowed him to return to Paris. Reinhardt made a second attempt a few days later, but was stopped in the middle of

13530-641: Was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005) for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In 1988, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by guitarist Jeff Beck , who said, "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit." He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2005), the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame (1990), the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame (1996), and

13653-473: Was issued U.S. patent 3,018,680 , for a pickup in which the coil was integrated into the bridge. In the mid-1940s, he introduced an aluminum guitar with the tuning mechanisms below the bridge. As it had no headstock, and the string attachments were at the nut, it was the first "headless" guitar. Unfortunately, Paul's guitar was so sensitive to the heat from stage lights that it would not keep tune. However, he used it for several of his hit recordings. This style

13776-492: Was issued for the first time in the late 1950s. Back in Paris, in June 1950, Reinhardt was invited to join an entourage to welcome the return of Benny Goodman . He also attended a reception for Goodman, who, after the war ended, had asked Reinhardt to join him in the US. Goodman repeated his invitation and, out of politeness, Reinhardt accepted. Reinhardt later had second thoughts about what role he could play alongside Goodman, who

13899-485: Was led by guitarist Charlie Galloway. King Oliver , another important early figure, belonged to a band in 1910 that was led by guitarist Louis Keppard , brother of Freddie Keppard . Although jazz guitar existed during these years, banjo was a more popular instrument. The metallic twang of the banjo was easier to hear in a band than the acoustic guitar or piano, and it was easier to hear when recording on wax cylinders . The first person to make solo recordings on guitar

14022-496: Was minimal or non-existent), although he could also play fingerstyle on occasion, as evidenced by some recorded introductions and solos. Following his accident in 1928 in which his left hand was severely burned, he was left with the use of only his first two fingers. As a result, he developed a completely new left hand technique and started performing on guitar accompanying popular singers of the day, before discovering jazz and presenting his new hybrid style of gypsy approach plus jazz to

14145-449: Was not fully integrated into the band. He played a few tunes at the end of the show, backed by Ellington, with no special arrangements written for him. After the tour, Reinhardt secured an engagement at Café Society Uptown, where he played four solos a day, backed by the resident band. These performances drew large audiences. Having failed to bring his usual Selmer Modèle Jazz, he played on a borrowed electric guitar, which he felt hampered

14268-405: Was not only phenomenal, but it was personal and unique to him due to his handicap. It is very difficult to achieve the same tone, articulation and clarity using all 5 left hand fingers. It is possible to get closer with only 2 fingers, but again is quite challenging. Probably the thing about this music that makes it always challenging and exciting to play is that Django raised the bar so high, that it

14391-608: Was recorded from their home and with gentle humor between Paul and Ford bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple's recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as " In the Mood ", "Little Rock Getaway", "Brazil", and " Tiger Rag ". Many of these shows survive and are available from various sources. When Paul used magnetic tape, he could take his recording equipment on tour, making episodes for his fifteen-minute radio show in

14514-546: Was related to the founders of Milwaukee 's Valentin Blatz Brewing Company and the makers of the Stutz automobile. His parents divorced when he was a child. His mother simplified their Prussian family name first to Polfuss, then to Polfus, although Les Paul never legally changed his name . Before taking the stage name Les Paul, he performed as Red Hot Red and Rhubarb Red. At the age of eight, Paul began playing

14637-536: Was strongly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt , whom he greatly admired. Following World War II , Paul sought out and made friends with Reinhardt. When Reinhardt died in 1953, Paul paid for part of the funeral's cost. One of Paul's prized possessions was a Selmer acoustic guitar given to him by Reinhardt's widow. Paul formed a trio in 1937 with rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins (older half-brother of guitarist Chet Atkins ) and bassist/percussionist Ernie "Darius" Newton. They left Chicago for New York in 1938, landing

14760-403: Was the "King of Swing", and remained in France. In 1951, Reinhardt retired to Samois-sur-Seine , near Fontainebleau , where he lived until his death. He continued to play in Paris jazz clubs and began playing electric guitar. (He often used a Selmer fitted with an electric pickup, despite his initial hesitation about the instrument.) In his final recordings, made with his Nouvelle Quintette in

14883-413: Was the chief designer of the guitar, which was based on Paul's drawings and later dubbed the Gibson Les Paul . Gibson entered into a promotional and financial arrangement with Les Paul, paying him a royalty on sales. The guitar went on sale in 1952. Paul continued to make design suggestions. In 1960, sales of the original Les Paul model had dropped, so a more modernistic model was introduced (today called

15006-476: Was the first person to hear Paul play his multi-tracked guitar experiments. "He came to my garage to make a little record (in 1946)," Les recalled. "I played him the acetate of 'Lover' that I'd done. When he heard it, he said, 'My boy, you sound like an octopus. ' " In the summer of 1945, Paul met country-western singer Iris Colleen Summers. They began working together on Paul's radio show, as Rhubarb Red and The Ozark Apple Knockers with Mary Lou. Later Paul suggested

15129-519: Was the music director for radio stations WJJD and WIND. In 1943, he moved to Hollywood where he performed on radio and formed a new trio. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, where he served in the Armed Forces Radio Network , backing such artists as Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters , and performing in his own right. As a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore , Paul played with Nat King Cole and other artists in

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