Influences

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INFLUENCES

The first guitarist I really took notice of was B.B. King when I was 14 years old. I heard “The Thrill is Gone” on the radio and shortly thereafter I convinced my parents to take me to see him at The Hook and Ladder Club in Toronto. My Dad was a country-style guitarist and he helped get me started on an old Martin^® guitar that he had.

Around this time, I started playing saxophone in high school and learned the basics of reading music. In addition, I took guitar lessons at the local music store in Thornhill, Ontario where I was taught from the first two Berklee books written by William Levitt. Around this time I discovered Canadian Jazz Guitarist Ed Bickert and the Quartet record he did with Paul Desmond. Being quite impressionable, I went out and purchased a Fender Telecaster^® guitar as my first good instrument and attempted to emulate the comping style of Ed Bickert.

I soon picked up records from Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, George Benson and Joe Pass. After graduating from high school I attended Humber College and later Vancouver College as a guitar major. . My most dominant influences during this period were Ed Bickert and Bill Evans. During this period my chordal facility was more developed than my melodic concept.

In the mid to late 1980’s, I focused more on the melodic aspect of jazz and my major influences during this period was Joe Pass. I began taking licks through various keys and fingerings on the guitar. Although I continued to listen to Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall I seemed to be able to apply Joe Pass lines to my playing more easily. It was around this time that I started playing a 1950 Gibson 175^® and in the early 1990’s I switched to tube amps which led to a more authentic tone.

In the mid 1990’s, I addressed my technical shortcomings with respect to the articulation of triplets across the strings. The horn influenced articulation that was prevalent in the playing of Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall was now much clearer and my view of the fingerboard changed to accommodate this type of phrasing. Playing with horn players in bands with a lot of written lines for the guitar and transcribing horn solos provided me with the opportunity to put these approaches to practical use.

Warren Greig