Joe Pass was the the son of Mariano Passalaqua a Sicilian born steel mill worker. Although the family was not 'musical' Joe showed great ability at an early age and was given his first guitar - a Harmony -when he was nine. He learned quickly and practised constantly developing techniques for which he would be well known later in life. During the fifties he struggled with drug addiction but after two and a half years at Synanon emerged as a top jazz guitarist.
New York Magazine said of him 'Joe Pass looks like somebody's uncle and plays guitar like no body's business. He is called the world's greatest' and is often compared to Paganini for his virtuosity. There's a certain purity to his sound that makes him stand out from other first rate guitarists.'Joe's solo work employed a finger style approach with which he seamlessly used 'block' chordal melody with linear improvised lines at will. Always conscious os bass movement his contrapuntal motion produced a sophisticated musical result that would alter in rhythm without warning.
Joe Pass collaborated with all the greats - Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, Les McCann, George Shearing, Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams, Della Reese, Johnny Mathis, Ray Brown, Jake Hanna. In the 70's he worked with Oscar Peterson and Niels Henning Orsted Pederson - the trio winning a Grammy for 'Best Jazz Performance by a group' in 1975.
He also recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and others.
