Search results
Smith taught himself to play guitar in pawnshops, which let him play in exchange for keeping the guitars in tune. At thirteen years of age he was teaching others to play the guitar. One of Smith's students bought a new guitar and gave him his old guitar, which became the first guitar Smith owned.
Mar 7, 2011 · Every major jazz artist who ever worked with or knew Johnny Smith considered him to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists who ever lived. I would find it hard to believe that anyone could play multiple extended engagements at Birdland and play the same solos night after night.
Jun 24, 2024 · My introduction to jazz guitar was selecting records out of my mom’s collection that had a guitar on it and she had some early Johnny Smith including Moonlight in Vermont. I was fascinated by that record and couldn’t believe what I heard and learned a couple of solos off of it.
- Joe Barth
Sep 19, 2013 · Johnny asked me to play some solo guitar for him, so I played an arrangement of a standard that utilized every harmonic technique I knew to date, making it a musical equivalent of including everything but the 'kitchen sink.'
- Dom Minasi
Feb 11, 2024 · Most of the albums featured solo guitar or a trio; two backed Smith with strings playing arrangements the guitarist wrote himself. There was a great appeal to Smith's graceful, melodic treatment of superior tunes.
As a teenager, Johnny played the guitar with various hillbilly groups, most notably Uncle Lem and His Mountain Boys. In 1940, he joined a variety group, the Airport Boys, and toured the vaudeville circuit around Boston. His increasing passion, however, was to play jazz.
Dec 4, 2023 · Johnny Smith was a pioneer of chord melody playing, a technique where the guitarist simultaneously plays the melody and harmonizes it with chords. He was a master at this approach, creating intricate and harmonically rich arrangements that showcased his creativity and harmonic knowledge.
