Joe Pass born 13 January 1929

Joe Pass (January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. A uniquely gifted accompanist, he would often work with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald. He was as eloquent as any of the great guitarists and his improvisations never required the application of polish: they were already perfect. 

Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on January 13, 1929. He started playing guitar at the age of 9 when he moved to Pennsylvania. Neither of Joe’s parents were musicians although he would often hear the local Italian guys in his neighbourhood playing accordion when they hanged out with his father, drinking wine and relaxing. 

Joe began taking lessons every Sunday with a local teacher instead of going to church. After 6–8 months learning he was already playing at parties and dances with older, experienced musicians. At the age of 14 he started out in a group modelled after the Hot Club of France with violin and rhythm guitar (ala’ Django Reinhardt). Joe was always the improviser, the soloist. 

By the age of 20 Joe was already a top rated guitarist in his local scene with 6 years of professional playing under his belt. In 1949 he moved to NYC and began immersing himself in the scene and attending jam sessions. Within his first year of being in NYC he developed a serious drug problem that would deeply trouble him for the next 15 years. During this period he would perform in nightclubs around the US and was jailed for 5 years because of drugs. Pass largely put music on hiatus during his prison sentence. 

In 1960 he went into rehab in Santa Monica California and cleaned up. In an odd twist of fate, one of the clinic’s sponsors was the owner of World Pacific Records. Pass recorded a series of albums during the 1960s for Pacific Jazz Records, including Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. 1962 was a phenomenal year for Joe. He quickly established himself as a first call session and club guitarist in LA, culminating in his winning of the Downbeat Jazz Critics Poll for ‘Artist Deserving Wider Recognition.’ He also played on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. He toured with George Shearing in 1965. During the 1960s, he did mostly TV and recording session work in Los Angeles. 

                    

By 1970, Joe was well established in California. He had performed on lucrative T.V shows such as Good Morning America, recorded countless albums as a sideman and toured the US with artists such as George Shearing. Norman Granz recognised Joe’s incredible talent and organised and recorded a concert of Joe with Oscar Peterson and Niels Henning Orsted in 1973. 

That same year Granz helped Joe record an album of duets with Ella Fitzgerald among many other albums. Joe’s reputation quickly skyrocketed in the US and in Europe. Also in 1973 Joe would record his solo jazz guitar album ‘Virtuoso’ that would set fire to the jazz world.  Pass's dexterity soon led to his becoming known as 'the Art Tatum of the guitar'. Granz used him as the 'house' guitarist for his Pablo record label and pushed him into the superb melting-pot he used for his recording sessions and concert tours. 

At the Grammy Awards of 1975, Peterson, Orsted and Pass ,known as “ The Trio” won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group. As part of the Pablo roster, Pass recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie. Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded six albums together on Pablo toward the end of Fitzgerald's career: Take Love Easy (1973), Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), Hamburg Duets - 1976 (1976), Sophisticated Lady (1975, 1983), Speak Love (1983), and Easy Living (1986). 

Apart from gracing some of Fitzgerald's best sessions he also accompanied the singers Julie London and Sarah Vaughan and his playing was perhaps largely responsible for the fact that The Great American Song Book was Carmen McRae's finest album. 

Pass was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1992. Although he was initially responsive to treatment and continued to play into 1993, his health eventually declined, forcing him to cancel his tour with Pepe Romero, Paco Peña, and Leo Kottke. Pass performed for the final time on May 7, 1994, with fellow guitarist John Pisano at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Pisano told Guitar Player that after the performance Pass looked at him with a tear in his eye and said "I can't play anymore", an exchange which Pisano described as "like a knife in my heart." 

Joe Pass died in Los Angeles, California on May 23, 1994, at the age of 65. Not only does Joe stand as one of the world’s greatest guitarists of all time, he is also one of the greatest educators. His legacy lives on through the knowledge and skills he so generously shared with students around the world.

 (Edited from Medium article by Sam Blakelock, The Independent  & Wikipedia)