DEEp CuTS

Nigel Pulsford on lost-classic guitar albums you must hear

Johnny Smith Johnny Smith’s Kaleidoscope Verve Records 1967

Johnny Smith, who died in 2013 at the age of 90, was a guitarist of extraordinary abilities. His stretched voicings, melodic sense and astonishing technique made him one of the most influential jazz guitarists around. Players from Joe Pass to George Benson to Jon Herington have all cited him as a key influence.

In the late 1940s, he worked in New York, playing in Broadway shows, TV studios (all TV music was live) and touring. He recorded a number of successful solo albums in the 50s, but after the death of his wife in 1957, he moved to Colorado to raise his young children. He ran a music shop, taught and recorded, but stopped touring.

Gibson, Guild and Heritage all produced Johnny Smith model guitars. His search for an amplifier with a flat frequency response led to Ampeg producing the ‘Fountain Of Sound’ model and Gibson producing the GA-75L. He favoured a John D’Angelico New Yorker 20-fret model made for him in 1955.

Johnny produced three albums for Verve Records in the mid-60s; Kaleidoscope is a very good place to start. His playing is so melodic that you forget how technically demanding it is. An exploration of the fascinating career of Johnny Smith really is highly recommended. Further Listening: Johnny Smith, Moonlight In Vermont, Walk, Don’t Run!