Joe Pass

Joe Pass is one of the Jazz Legends who started Jazz BeBop guitar. Many young jazz guitarists, including myself, have inspired by his jazz guitar playing. His trade mark is the chord voicing which allows you to play melody notes and chords at the same time like a piano player, which is one of the most popular techniques for jazz guitarists nowadays, also called “Joe Pass Style” by jazz critics.




Joe Pass (Joseph Anthony Passalaqua) was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1929. He was not musically well-educated. He had done many arrangements with his ears, which means he didn’t care about music theory but the sound of voicing he uses. In 1973, he recorded one album “Virtuoso,” which is featured by him only. The album was sensation to jazz guitarists at the time because the quality of his solo playing was incredible, comparing to other jazz guitar solo albums. Before his album, guitar seemed inferior instrument in jazz. Guitar only appeals on Jazz Band but combo style. Joe Pass changed the guitar stereo-type by his playing. Joe Pass had also done duo recordings with jazz singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holyday, etc. According to Frank Potenza, who is my guitar teacher at USC and also one of Joe Pass’s students, when Joe played with singers, he usually played very intuitively. In other words, he didn’t care the chord changes on the chart. His own chord changes gave the unique color to singers’ voice and nice relaxing feeling to peaces.