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Joe Pass

New Jersey-born guitarist Joe Passalaqua raised the bar in virtuosic guitar playing, working regularly with many of the greatest legends in Jazz. After working as a low-profile session player for many years in Los Angeles, Pass was signed to Norman Granz's new Pablo label and his first release, the aptly-titled Virtuoso (1973) established him as a brilliant player. He began winning polls, developing new musical relationships with well-known artists and became an attraction at concerts, festivals and for recording sessions. Many more solo albums followed, as well as collaborations with Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Among Pass's other significant albums for the Pablo label were: I Remember Charlie Parker (1979), Porgy & Bess (with Oscar Peterson, 1976), Whitestone (1985) and Kansas City Six (with Count Basie, 1981).