The role of the guitar in popular music is often misunderstood. There is a tendency to confuse virtuosity with the number of notes played. (This happens with other instruments as well - see the earlier discussion of Ringo and The Beatles.) Therefore, lead guitar gets all the attention, and the instrument's importance as a rhythmic contributor is not properly appreciated. More than any other instrument, the history of twentieth-century popular music has been shaped by the guitar. Its portability and the fact that bent strings can emulate vocalists are two large factors in its centrality to blues music. The fact that it is polyphonic and can be played with infinite rhythmic variety makes it a sort of halfway point between the piano and drums, and therefore perfect for jazz. Try to imagine country music without the guitar. Now try it with rock and roll.
Over the next little bit, I'll be writing about some guitarists and recordings that deserve more appreciation. Today, the topic is Jim Hall's playing on "I've Got You Under My Skin", from the album Intermodulation, recorded with Bill Evans. The performance begins with Hall soloing over the song's long form. (Cole Porter had the ability to write pieces with long forms that somehow retained their unity. Listen to "Begin the Beguine", for another example.) In jazz, this is unusual, as the head (i.e. the melody) is nearly always played before the improvising starts. Hall understood this and made certain that the listener could clearly hear the tune throughout his solo, and yet what he plays is entirely original. When Bill Evans takes over after one pass through the form (a "chorus", in Musician), Hall's accompaniment is astonishing. Someone once said of the Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench: "When he throws the ball, everyone in baseball drools." Well, this is such a moment for guitarists. The swing, the touch, the voicings (the different locations and inversions in which a chord can be played on a guitar or a keyboard), the time-feel. It's simply exquisite. According to legend, when Evans died at the age of fifty-one in 1980, many musical tributes were paid at his funeral. But the one that sent everyone to tears was Jim Hall playing the chords to "I've Got You Under My Skin", as they listened to the beauty of what was there and realized the beauty of what had been lost.