Django
Joe Pass, 1964, from For Django. Solo by Joe Pass.
Pass's tribute to Reinhardt pairs a mournful theme with clean, fast bebop runs over the John Lewis changes.
On For Django, Joe Pass pays tribute to Django Reinhardt with John Lewis's mournful composition Django. He treats the theme with restraint, letting its sombre melody sing with a clean, warm tone before moving into faster bebop runs over the changes. The contrast between the elegiac theme and his fluent, even improvising gives the performance its emotional pull. Pass's lines are precise but never mechanical, full of chromatic approach notes and neat resolutions. It stands as one of the clearest early showcases of his single-line playing. Listen for how he returns to melodic fragments of the theme in the middle of his solo, reminding you of the tune's mood even as the tempo and density rise.
Django by Joe Pass is featured in our Jazz (#6) list. The solo is played by Joe Pass and the song was released in 1964.
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Who played the guitar solo on Django?
Joe Pass played the solo on Joe Pass's Django (1964).