Remembrances of Joe Pass
A huge hole in the jazz guitar world was left with Joe's passing.
Not to mention the deafening silence of suddenly not hearing his voice again, to those that were close to him. I was one of those lucky enough to have shared some great moments with Joe, and for that I will always be grateful.
I got to meet and know Joe kind of late in his life, but meeting him and some of the musicians he played with like John Pisano, Colin Bailey and Jim Hughart was a dream come true for me. The longer I knew him the more supportive he became and as I hear more about him from his friends, I realize how much he cared about his fellow musicians. He never said it in so many words . . but there were moments when he would do something, a small kindness that would show his heart , even as he tried to hide it from view most of the time.
He was not one to put on airs, or make himself important. He saw himself as an average Joe, just doing his job, which happened to be playing the guitar. I liked his down home attitude, and loved his stories, where he would poke fun at himself, and the situations he would find himself in.
Life on the road was not always easy. Feb. 27th 1994, I talked to him in San Francisco and he had just arrived for a Guitar Summit concert where he was playing on the same bill as Classical guitarist Pepe Romero, along with Leo Kottke, and Paco Pena. He almost didn't make it. He had inadvertently locked his keys in the rental car which he parked in a lot with no attendant near the airport.
His guitar and everything was in the car and he had a plane to catch! He finally got a hold of someone, and they had to break into the rental car to get his stuff. He made his flight, but by the time he arrived he was exhausted, and he still had a concert to play.
Of course, being the pro that he was, playing was probably the easiest part. So unknown to all his fans, he was fighting the big "C", and coping with the medical treatments that have their own horrible side effects. He didn't want to let anyone down, so he kept going.
After the concert, he went to his hotel room to call his wife Ellen, and couldn't get the phone to make a long distance call. So, here he is wearing a Brooklyn tee shirt, telling the receptionist, "what's with the phones? all I want to do is call my wife in Germany!" I could see the stress was getting to him. Everyone was going to Stars for dinner afterwards, he was too tired to go, so he told me to go ahead in his place.
Having studied with a few of the really great artists . . . I'm struck by the humanity and down to earth quality that the ones I've met have.
I met Leo Kottke at the same concert. He had that kind of compassion, but that's a different story. I don't think it's an accident that audiences love their music, especially if their heart and humanity speaks through their music. Perhaps that's the important lesson here. Learn to be a real human being then play what you hear.
As much as anything else, it was Joe's humanity coming through his music that attracted me to his style. He took chances, painting himself into a corner musically sometimes, and you would wonder how he was going to find his way back but he always would. What an inventive mind! He would improvise counterpoint, come up with endless variations.
For a classical guitarist this was a mind blowing experience. Memorizing a classical piece to perform was a form of interpretation, and rewarding but it wasn't my own creation of a musical idea, it was the composers invention.
Joe heard the music first in his mind then sang it on the guitar. After hearing him do this I knew I had to move in that direction if I was to find my own voice.
Joe's improvisations were so well crafted that I suspect that many who heard him didn't know that he was creating right on the spot. When he would invite me to come listen to him at Yoshi's In Oakland, I would hear him sometimes play the same tune in different sets, and it would be totally different the second time.
I got a chance to do some work for Joe, writing some lead sheets of his tunes for copyright. I'm sure with his contacts, he could have had someone else do it, but I think it was his way of supporting another musician that he liked. He knew how hard it was to be a serious musician.
He told me about the days when he would teach lessons in his garage, and to keep the faith. He told me felt his career didn't get off the ground until he was 38 or so. He even promised we would get some work together! He was thinking about playing jazz over a classical guitar accompaniment. Now whether he was serious I'll never know, but the boost it gave to my confidence will never be forgotten. And I know that a few words of encouragement from someone of his stature lightened the burden of many following his Giant Steps.
The above was a short article, (slightly edited), that I wrote, that appeared in the June 1996 special editon on Joe Pass published by the magazine, Just Jazz Guitar
If you have any Joe Pass stories you would like to share just send them via email and I will put them on the site.
Here is a link to some pix's of Joe's guitars.
My friend Tabo a good friend of Joes's from Japan created a new site with Joe's complete discography. Joe Pass Memorial Hall. |
