Search - Charlie Christian- The Life & Music of the Legendary Jazz Guitarist on DVD

I watched the birth of electric guitar.

Devin Winter | 02/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fabulous DVD. Charlie Christian was one of the greats, in some ways the father of the electric guitar. Born in 1916, he died in 1942. For less than three years he recorded and played with the likes of Benny Goodman. The bulk of his life was spent in Oklahoma, where he was part of a thriving jazz scene ... and was also influenced by some western swing guitarists. This DVD includes interviews with an array of folks who knew him when he was a kid (!), who played jazz with him during his formative period in Oklahoma, and famous folks he met/played with once he left Oklahoma (including Les Paul, Claude "The Fiddler" Williams, and Lawrence Lucie). They stories they tell are fun, but maybe the real treat is the music on this disc. Like a lot of early greats (inc. Robert Johnson), no film camera ever captured Charlie Christian. But this disc includes a quite a number of cuts that range from guitarists who influenced Christian (Eldon Shamblin), guitarists who were his contemporaries (Les Paul), and guitarists who were influenced by him (Herb Ellis and Benny Garcia, the latter who also ended up recording with Benny Goodman). The accumulation gives a very good impression of the music and life of a man who has been somewhat of a shadowy figure in jazz and guitar history."