One of the simplest pleasures in life would be to sit back on a lazy Sunday afternoon, getting high on the musical fragrance of the late great Joe Pass.

The musical journey of Joe Pass set forth on his ninth birthday when he received an acoustic guitar from his father. From then with a keen ear to learn and pick up tunes, Joe made a desperate effort to ear anything and everything. Whatever he heard he would register it his mind, then pick up his guitar, and pluck on it until he reached the perfect match of tone and key. This childhood strive for getting it right each time would take his playing a long way. He was listening to all kinds of music, not just music played on the guitar. For instance, he would hear a piano playing and then would try to translate that onto the guitar. Note by note he developed his skill and by 14 he had become a regular player at the local scene in his hometown. For the next couple of years he would be switching. to and forth, between his role as a high school student and a touring musician.

With his self-dismissal of the school table Joe found his way to New York City to venture into the jazz clubs of the late 40s and early 50’s. During his early stints in New York, Joe starting picking up a lot of what was happening around him. Unfortunately amongst the many things he did pick up was heroin. Back in those days jazz musicians were the equivalent of the drugged out rock stars of the 60’s. Therefore, they did do their share bit of rolls. The next decade or so would not be exactly what Joe had planned for as he ended up behind the bars for drug abuse. Ten years of his life were divided between music on one side and, drugs and jail time on the other, the latter being more predominant of the two. From then on Joe decided that he had enough and decided to kick the habit for good. After being a vagabond for a while, he finally reached Santa Monica where he enrolled himself into a drug rehabilitation center. The two years spent there would be god sent for Joe. Not only did he escape from the fists of addiction; but he also got back his penchant for music. With other musicians at the center, he started jelling together a band of sorts. When they made it out of the center with a clean chit, they put together a record titled The Sounds of Synanon, titled after the rehabilitation center.

The record made it’s way to the office of the Pacific Jazz Label, and was met with appeasing hears. The company executives liked what they had heard and soon Joe was roped in and given a contract with the label. Though he released a handful of albums during the 60’s he didn’t manage to grab a stronghold and cement himself as regal musician. The decade saw a turn of the tide. With the growing popularity of bands like The Beatles & The Rolling Stones, rock music was high on demand and it became the new jazz. Being a jazz musician now had lesser perquisites and it became harder to make a substantial impact being a jazz musician. Joe’s greatest accomplishments during the decade would probably be backing music heavyweights Frank Sinatra & Sarah Vaughan amongst many more accomplished names.

With 70’s came a breath of fresh air for Joe. His dazzling playing finally went well noticed when Jazz Mogul Norman Granz should an interest in Pass’s works. Norman was a manager and had under his Pablo Label the who’s who of the Jazz world; Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz to name a few. Norman had the confidence in Joe and realized his potential was only awaiting an opportunity to shine. During his Pablo years, Joe finally got the spotlight, and was longer just a backing musician. He got the front-stage which he so deserved. 1974’s Virtuoso proved to be a landmark album for both Joe and jazz guitar in general. The album displayed Joe’s amazing finger style technique, whose synchronized bass and lead lines do wonders for the unaccompanied musician. Four more albums bearing the same title followed the successful Virtuoso, including one live album. Joe soon became more famous for successfully fiddling around with standards rather than his own tunes.

The Pablo years really did Joe the world of good. It kicked of his long association with other masters of their crafts. Two among the long drawn list were Oscar Peterson and Neils-Henning Pederson. At the time, Oscar was considered one of the greatest pianists alive and the Danish Pederson was taking America by storm with his jaw dropping bass playing. Between themselves they recorded a lifetimes worth of Godly music as duos, trio and occasionally as a four piece band joined by other worthy accompanists. The same era also saw one of the greatest romances of the time, musically speaking of course, between Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. The couple would release six albums together, one more beautiful than the other. The albums were again made up largely of covers, yet both the artist had the amazing ability to make the covers their own each time that one tends to overlook that fact most often.

By the turn of the eighties Joe had worked with the most sort after jazz musicians of his time. Nevertheless, during the period his ill-health became a cause of concern. Joe kept working during the period nonetheless. He released albums right till the end when he died in 1994. Joe went relatively unknown even within the jazz or guitarist community, probably cursed by the plague of oblivion, though one listen to his music would leave a permanent mark on the hearts and minds of listeners of all variations. His impact on the guitar is paramount for those who have been lucky enough to have discovered him. He sits on the same pedestal as his long time idol Django, for he is a legend in his own right.

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Rishi Agarwal is a student of finance and is a multi genre guitarist. He likes playing with his dog, christened Elvis after The King. He lives off the likes of Hendrix and Clapton , and aspires to one day jam with John Mclaughlin of The Mahavishnu Orchestra.