Guitar | 1929-1994

Joe Pass nearly didn't have a career at all. A heroin addiction picked up in his early twenties in New York cost him much of the 1950s, including time in prison, before a recovery stay at the Synanon rehabilitation centre put him back among musicians. "Sounds of Synanon" (1962), recorded with fellow residents, caught the attention of Pacific Jazz producer Richard Bock, who signed him for a run of 1960s records including "For Django" (1964), Pass's tribute to the gypsy jazz player he'd worshipped since hearing his 78s as a kid. The real turning point came in 1970, when Norman Granz heard him play and signed him to the new Pablo label. "Virtuoso" (1973), recorded completely solo with no overdubbing, set a new standard for chord melody guitar, weaving bass, harmony and lead simultaneously on a single instrument, and it remains the record most guitarists cite as the one that changed what they thought was possible alone on the instrument. Pablo also paired him extensively with Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington through the 1970s and 80s. Pass died of liver cancer in 1994, aged 65, having performed live just over two weeks before his death.