The real career "launch" probably happened when Ed Bickert was recommend to the great Paul Desmond ... by Jim Hall ! Jim surely new that Ed could be the perfect accompanist for the legendary saxophonist's band. (Ed and Jim were friends.)

Bickert worked with Desmond from the mid seventies : they recorded a few albums notably "Paul Desmond Quartet Live" and "Pure Desmond". The later was recorded in the US with Ron Carter on bass!


After gaining international visibility, Ed Bickert performed with renowned jazz artists and led his own band. His career owed him to be a Member of Order of Canada (a very high distinction).

While Bickert is a real "jazz guitar hero" to many guitarists old and young, he never got the attention he deserved. That is mainly because he never lived in NY or in the States... as most of his contemporaries did.

Addendum : Ed's first trio record called simply called "Ed Bickert" is the recording that exposed him to a wider audience.

Unfortunately, he stopped playing in the early 21st century.
He influenced many other Canadian and American guitarists namely Ted Greene (who also plays a tele by the way!)

On a personal note : one of my teachers got in touch with Ed many times
and harassed him to get a private lesson. The answer was always "NO!" ... on the other hand, Bickert was a fantastic clinician.

Gear and Playing Style

Ed Bickert's creativity and taste is unprecedented on the instrument. His harmonic concept really makes him the perfect accompanist for jazz in any context (duo, trio, quartet, etc.)

He obviously used an hybrid technique of pick and fingers to achieve maximum clarity in his chords introductions, self accompaniments, chord solos and counterpuntal lines.


Bickert's round, well voiced chords, progressions and harmonic genius (passing chords, counterpoint, deceptive cadences, etc.) are really what distinguishes him : only a few notes suffice to identify when he's playing.

In the process of transcribing his music, I noticed that some of his 3-part voicings have much "bigger" implications : I could sometimes hear the other notes he didn't play (he "implied" them with less notes!) Talk about as master of harmony ...

On the gear level : he used a solid body guitar; probably why the chords he played sounded so rich and full. In fact, it seems he played mostly on a creamy yellow worn-out Fender Telecaster. (Although I saw him with an archtop in his early years, thanks to YouTube!)

I am still unsure of the amplifiers he used. From what I heard, he doesn't like Fender amps. When he gave a clinic in Montreal in the 1990's he said "Give me anything but a Fender amp!"

Amps Addendum : quoting directly a friend of mine, the great guitarist Steve Raegele : "I've seen Ed Bickert play probably 10-15 times over the years, and for the longest time it was an orange Roland Cube. In the late 90s, he got an Evans amp that sounded really good."

Video, Licks and Transcriptions