Jazz Guitar
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Getting the right Jazz guitar used to be costly. Jazz masters such as Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass might have played pricey Gibson Semi’s but these days there are a variety of entry level guitars that are suitable for getting a jazz tone.
For an authentic jazz tone, you should have a semi-acoustic hollowbody electric guitar. Models such as the Gibson ES-175 or the Gretch Tennessean can run into thousands of dollars but there are also excellent entry models such as Ibanez Artcore line of guitars. Guitar manufacturers such as Yamaha or Guild also make entry level semi-acoustics similar to the more expensive Gibson 335. There are also numerous Epiphone hollowbody guitars that’ll also be suitable and come from the Gibson stable. Explore your local music store and try out what they look for something that’s comfortable to play and can produce a tight clean tone with plenty of sustain.
Hollow body guitars will provide a suitable mellow tone and most will be fitted with two humbucker pickups allowing you to vary your sound accordingly. Most guitars will be fitted with tone controls. Practice rolling the treble off your tone and experimenting - Jazz guitarists often play with a less trebly sound as it produces a rich mellow resonance that is suitable for the style.
Top 5 Jazz guitars
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Traditional Jazz requires a fairly specific Guitar sound. Usually a very clean dry tone, with tiny to no effects. But a hint of reverb is okay. The neck pickup is used with the resultant sound required to be clear enough to pickup the subtle nuances and articulation of the playing. Jazz Guitarists need to carefully think about their Guitar.
Jazz has been around for many years, so there is a wide selection of instruments available. Traditionally Jazz Guitars are hollow body semi acoustics and these have tended to favor P90 or Humbucker style pickups to produce the required sound. Here’s the list of the 5 classic Jazz guitars favored by Jazz Guitarists around the world.
1 Gibson ES150
Made famous to the jazz community by Charlie Christian the ES 150 became his guitar. The ES150 became one of the world’s first commercially available electric guitars. With its single coil pickup fitted at the neck and its acoustic shaped body with f holes - the 150 has that sweet warm jazz tone that became a world favorite.
2 Gibson L5
Another of Gibson’s Jazz power trio (the others are the ES150 and the ES175) - the L5 features a huge resonant body. With a history that goes back nearly 90 years the L5 has changed a little over this time and has featured different pickups (from P90’s to Humbuckers). As the prestige rhythm guitar it has been played by a variety of greats including Wes Montgomery.
3 Gibson ES-175
With it’s stylish Florentine single cutaway - the ES175 represented a departure for Gibson from their usual design - Debuting in 1949 - the 175 has been associated with a variety of Jazz greats from Herb Ellis to Pat Metheny.
4 Gretsch Country Gentleman/Nashville
While Gretsch are not considered jazz guitars per se - both the Country Gent and the Nashville are able to produce both versatile and authentic jazz tones. Both guitars offer a range of controls for adapting the tone of the guitar and can produce some versatile jazzy results - whilst the FiterTron pickups produce something that’s unlike it’s Gibson counterparts.
5 Fender Telecaster
With it’s sweet and mellow neck pickup tone the telecaster offers something a tiny different that the usual Jazz fare - Traditionally a country guitar the telecaster has been featured with Jazz artists including Ed Bickert and Mike Stern.
A little about Jazz
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Jazz, an American classical music, is a diverse genre of music that stems from native American and African music. Inspired by blues music, Jazz first became popular in the early 1920’s in clubs in cities like New Orleans and Chicago. Jazz was so popular in the 1930’s that there were even white jazz singers. Big bands such as Ben Goodman and Glen Miller came into play. But some viewed them as swing more than jazz.
I’ve often found Jazz to be sad and mostly about heartache and troubles of life. To me, it’s more like they were based off of the performers lives. Do you know that a lot of Jazz performers died from drug and alcohol abuse. Jazz is based off of a classical background and you have to learn the chords and scales of the songs. It takes improvisation and lots of imagination to play it well. Jazz can be quite difficult, but for some jazz is just in the blood.
Jazz dance wear
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Jazz wear, has always been “less is more” for me. Jazz dancers seldom wear full-length jazz pants and capri pants these days. Most of them prefer “booty shorts“, or “hot pants“. And these Jazz wear, are taking over in the world of jazz. Doest it make sense to you to wear less clothing while dancing and getting sweaty. Jazz dancers everywhere love wearing these short, tight shorts and pairing them with fitted tops.
Halter Tops
Halter tops are very big in jazz wear. They look cute and stylish and provides very good bustline support. Stylish rouching has become very popular on dance tops. It makes jazz wear look more like normal, everyday clothing. Check out the latest color of the season before you buy your Jazz wear. I personally prefer blue as it is a beautiful color that flatters everyone.
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Crystals
Crystals are a must in jazz wear. It makes your Jazz wear more elegant and catchy. Crystals can be done across the back of shorts or pants to spell out dance or other catchy, dance related words. You may want to look for “booty shorts” detailed with crystals along the sides or across the top. Will definitely mesmerize the crowds.
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Lyrical Shoes
Lyrical shoes are also quite popular in the jazz dance circle. These new styles have been created to give an even better illusion that the dancer is not wearing any shoes. Lyrical shoes are more comfortable for jazz dancers and manufacturers are making them easier to stay on the feet. Though lyrical shoes are not technically jazz shoes, dancers are still wearing them for jazz classes and sometimes even performances.
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Jazz wear has evolved into minimal coverage and jazz dancers are showing more skin than ever before . Between “booty shorts“, fitted shirts, and lyrical shoes that make a jazz dancer look barefoot, it is obvious that the evolving trend to find comfort and style while decreasing body coverage is definitely an interesting fashion movement that’s here to stay in today’s jazz wear .
Jazz up your wedding
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Whether a bride wants to walk down the aisle to a touching melody or dance to a swinging tune, jazz musicians can deliver both and more. Jazz musicians are unique because they can adapt jazz music to each wedding ceremony, wedding reception, cocktail hour, luncheon, dinner and more. This also saves money for couples because they can use the same band throughout the day so they don’t have to hire other musicians for different aspects such as a string quartet for the ceremony. The jazz musicians can do the wedding ceremony too.
Here is how Jazz Musicians can add live to your wedding:
Ceremony
String quartets are the number one requested music group for weddings and especially wedding ceremonies, according to Judkins. However, Judkins believes that a jazz quartet can perform just as beautifully for a wedding ceremony and can add an extra dimension because of the variety of instruments to select from.
A string quartet will have the same instruments forever, two violins, a viola and a cello. But jazz quartets can be varied with a trumpet or a saxophone or even a flute or clarinet.
Receptions
Jazz bands can have as little as three musicians and go up to a 17 piece big band.
No matter the size though, jazz bands can be flexible to what a bride and groom want for the reception music and their first dance whether it be swing music or a romantic song.
Cocktail Hour
Another feature of a jazz band or jazz quartet is that a singer can be added easily and usually at a minimal cost.
Luncheons or Dinners
Jazz musicians are breathtaking featured performers, but they’re also astonishing in the background. When playing for wedding luncheons or dinners, Jazz musicians play loud enough to be heard but soft enough so that conversation can continue without straining.
No matter your wedding event, whether it be a wedding ceremony, wedding reception, cocktail hour, luncheon or dinner, jazz music is no doubt an amazing choice for brides and grooms.
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