Joe Pass Solo Guitar Master

Joe Pass was pretty much a whole orchestra holding a six string guitar, that’s how talented he was. He was born Joseph Anthony Passalaqua in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was the oldest of 5 brothers.

Joe’s family shuffled back and forth between New Brunswick and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, depending on where his father could find work. Often it was in the steel mills of Pennsylvania.

One thing that both Joe’s parents cared about is making sure their boys all learned something that would insure that they were not stuck working in coal mines like many boys in Pennsylvania or in steel mills like Mariano Passalaqua, Joe’s own father.

When Joe was 9 years old, his father bought him a Harmony steel string guitar. Joe’s father even found him a teacher that was able to get Joe started with chords. The style of his early lessons he described as playing cowboy type chords, much like you would hear in Country Western music; but it was a start. Joe’s father recognizing his son’s talent made it a point to both listen for different melodies, or come up with something new every day. He would tell Joe “play this Joe’ and would make sure that his son could add it to his list of songs.

The way that Joe’s father made him practice was always the same. He was to start with the first song he ever learned and play everything he learned in succession, so that he never forgot anything. He was to learn these songs and be able to play them in different keys. It’s not hard to understand why he found himself playing the guitar at least 6 hours a day and often hating it, as well as the fact that he never played outside with kids his own age.

By the age of 14 Joe was playing at parties and dances and was approached by a boy a few years older than himself named Sam Sottile, who later became known as Bobby Lee and patented “the no-mishap guitar strap.” The boys practiced together for a gig in a club, which Sam claimed he had connections with. But, Sam’s interest for girls outweighed his desire to play at the time and so Joe’s first chance to play in a club was put on hold for just a short while.

Joe’s parents sent him to New York to learn sight reading from Harry Volpe. Although Joe learned to read music, it was not to the extent that he could play difficult charts by sight, like some of the studio musicians of the time, such as Billy Bauer or Howard Roberts. Joe’s strength was in his ability to hear.

When Joe’s father could no longer hold him under his strict control, Joe took to traveling and seeing some of his musical heroes in New York, such as Art Tatum and Charlie Parker. The new found freedom to do what he pleased and even possibly the admiration for Charlie Parker’s ability to perform while under the influence of heroin may have been the reason for Joe Pass to turn to heroin as well.

Heroin didn’t cripple Joe’s performance immediately, but within just a few brief years, Joe was totally addicted and going nowhere. This was an addiction that lasted from 1947 to 1960. It was only after staying at the Santa Monica narcotics rehabilitation center, called Synanon, where they wouldn’t allow Joe to play guitar for his first year there, to gather himself up and be responsible again, before picking up the guitar.

Synanon saved Joe’s life. But, it took more than 2 ½ years there to be able to face the world again. Interestingly enough there were other talented musicians weathering their addictions at Synanon, so though over 16 years had gone by since Joe was really part of the music scene, his career got a kick start when this band of rehabilitated musicians recorded an album called “The Sounds of Synanon.”

Though the album received recognition, Joe still had to pay his dues; but, his jobs were respectable ones. Joe was back doing what he loved and for the next decade, between backing talented musicians including George Shearing, releasing albums “Catch Me”, “Simplicity”, “Django”, and even playing the music of the Rolling Stones in a jazz format on 12 string guitar.

Joe was out to make up for lost time and when he noticed that good method books for jazz guitarists were few and far between in the early 70’s, Joe created a few for the progressive guitarist.

The door for Joe’s success swung wide open after he substituted for another guitarist in Benny Goodman’s band. He impressed Norman Granz enough to be signed up by Pablo records, where he released his first solo effort, an album entitled “Virtuoso.” This title actually became a series of albums.

Once Joe’s career took off, there was no stopping and he was on the road as a solo artist, teamed up with some big bands, or on a whirlwind tour with Oscar Petersen’s quartet. As talented as Joe was before, all the different experiences made him an even better musician.

Many people would especially love to watch Joe’s solo guitar performances and see him improvise, taking the melody in new directions and inversions of chordal arrangements. People were often thinking how will he find his way back to the original melody, but everyone would be thrilled to watch the master weave his way back. Joe often said “if you hit a wrong note, then make it right by what you play afterwards.”

Time away from home had a negative effect on his marriage. He was a faithful husband, but an absent one much of the time and felt truly sad when his wife Alice asked for a divorce. He did his best to be a good influence on his two children and he was very proud of them.

Fortunately, Joe ran into a good friend in New York that he had known in Germany named Ellen-Luders. The friendship blossomed and Joe was again a happily married man.

Joe did his best to balance his home life and his career. The travel was still a strain and Joe would sometimes say “what day is it?” “Oh Tuesday, then I must be in New York.” It was half jokingly that Joe said these things, but it was also fatigue.

From the soaring of his career in 1975 till his death on May 23, 1994, Joe played many styles, from swing to bop, Latin, to big band ensemble and some of his most cherished work was playing duets with the legendary Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald.

Playing with Ella was a special treat for Joe, because he felt like he had arrived. Ella played big venues like Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center. Joe knew his ability was far above many of the pop performers that played huge venues, and yet he’d point at a jazz club that holds a few hundred and say “this is as good as it gets for a jazz musician.”

While Joe was a brilliant player, he really loved to listen to others play. His own personal favorite guitarist was Wes Montgomery and he didn’t mind saying it.

Pass knew he had taken some wrong roads in his life and so he reached out to others to give them help. One such person he reached out to was Emily Remler. He sat down to play with her informally in the musicians’ lounge of New York City’s Blue Note Club. They played for a little while and Joe got to look in Emily’s eyes and say “I can tell you’re cheating”, referring to her addiction. She told him that she had been doing much better and later that year she tried to avoid going on a gig with David Benoit, so she could concentrate on beating her habit. But, unfortunately she couldn’t get a replacement and her fear of messing up on the road became a reality and led to her tragic end.

Joe Pass was a wonderful guitarist that left a huge legacy and a huge number of friends. Guitarists will be studying his style and tremendous body of work for years to come.

Take a look at Joe playing with Ella
Worth seeing is Joe playing solo

Tags: Ballad and Swing Master, Bebop