Hi, I'm Marc from JazzGuitarLessons.net, and you're listening to album Deep Dives. Today's episode focuses on George Van Eps.
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Known as the father of the seven string guitar. George Van Eps has been one of those historical figures that had a great influence in the jazz guitar field, but tend to be overshadowed by more flashy players.
He was born into a very musical family in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1913. His father was a professional banjo player, and his mother and brother were both excellent pianists. George always said that he was immensely influenced by piano and then it was because of this influence that he decided to come up with a design for a seven string guitar.
He wanted to expand the range of the guitar so that he could play it as a lap piano, and we will certainly recognize this influence in his advanced harmonic approaches on the instrument. Being a professional studio musician for most of his life, he had a vast experience with many different genres and played with the likes of Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and Paul Weston, amongst others.
In 1956, George Van Eps recorded and released his first record as a leader, and it was called Mellow Guitar under the Columbia label. This outstanding recording introduced the sound of that seven string guitar into the mainstream jazz world, as well as George Van Eps' particular style of playing. As an avid fingerstyle player since the age of nine, he had a superb mastery over the fretboard, and Van Eps was particularly adept at harmonizing melodies, adding remarkably tasteful inner voice movements in his improv and carving.
The record opens with Jean de Paul's "I'll Remember April." Van Eps' playing in this tune is reminiscent of ragtime, a style of music that was very present in his life, with his mother being a very proficient ragtime pianist and his father being as well a well-known ragtime banjo player. We can certainly listen to Van Eps' pianistic approach to the guitar and his sophisticated use of harmony here.
Listen to his voice leading and pay particular attention to the elegant movements he gives to the middle voices.
Next up is "What Is This Thing Called Love," written by Cole Porter. George's arrangement of this tune is very interesting. And we can really hear the seventh string in action. His absolute mastery of the fretboard is showcased here, with the guitar driving the entire tune by itself. His voice leading is as impeccable as ever, but his contrapuntal capacities are what I find remarkable here.
He weaves eighth note lines together with chords and elegant bass movements to create melodies and counter-melodies in different registers. It's almost like listening to John Sebastian Bach playing ragtime. If you can picture that.
"Yesterdays" by Jerome Kern is played perfectly as the fourth track on this record. The arrangement of this tune is refreshing, and it differs from what we heard previously, because it doesn't have a strong ragtime feel to it. Van Eps treats the beginning of this song in a freer and more modern way. His slight rubato in some passages, in combination with the lush string arrangements, adds just the right amount of drama to the mix.
The arrangement builds up until a faster tempo is set, and then we get a chance to listen to George play more single note oriented lines.
George Van Eps' arrangement of "They Can't Take That Away from Me," written by George Gershwin, of course, is superb. It really does sound like there are at least three guitars playing throughout the tune, but it's only George's seventh string. The way he uses the guitar to create different textures in this tune is a complete masterclass in arranging. He is able to play so freely with tension and release by contrasting different textural techniques, all the while maintaining the focus on the melody.
The next two tunes on the record, "So Wonderful," also written by Gershwin, and Rodgers' "Have You Met Miss Jones," are yet another nice surprise that this record holds. These tunes feature beautiful woodwind arrangements, which are very different from the treatment of the previous tracks. It is very rewarding to try to find the parallels between Van Eps' playing and what's going on harmonically in the arrangement.
He used the guitar as a tiny big band or as an orchestra almost, and the way he voice leads and transitions from chord to chord is very similar to what an arranger might do with a full horn section like the one these tunes feature.
Mellow Guitar contains two of their own compositions. "Tango El Bongo," a playful, Latin-inspired tune that features only a bongo and George's playing, and "Lost Canyon." The latter has a full woodwind arrangement similar to what we heard before on the record, but the big difference is Van Eps' playing. He really took advantage of the freedom that composition offers and added some astounding inner voice movements and counterpoint in the piece.
For me, this is the best example of Van Eps' genius. His harmonic understanding and curiosity would push the boundaries of the instrument and open many doors for future players to explore.
To close the album, we have "I Never Knew" by Kahn and Rito. The arrangement of this tune reminds me of what you would usually find in a big band chart, the difference being that the guitar is taking the role of the whole big band in this case. George had vast experience playing with big bands as a studio musician, as well as having played live with giants like Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra, amongst others.
So he plays with such confidence and command of this tune. You can really hear his years of experience portrayed here. There's also a different sound to Van Eps' playing. It sounds here like he's strumming a record as opposed to his usual fingerpicking technique, so he could really do everything.
Unfortunately, Van Eps doesn't have an extensive discography as a leader, but nevertheless, the records he published, recorded, and released are fantastic. I would recommend checking out his other major releases, My Guitar as well as Soliloquy. The latter is especially fascinating because it's a set of wonderful unaccompanied solo recordings. I would also encourage you to listen to his duet recordings with his student, Howard Alden, as well as his record with legendary guitarist Johnny Smith.
I hope this deep dive into George Van Eps' playing served to highlight some of the major contributions this fantastic and gifted musician added to jazz guitar. He contributed to the development of the artform not only with his playing, but with his design of the seven string guitar and his groundbreaking method books, Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar. I actually have it on my bookshelf right here.
Volume one. This harmonic sophistication and its application to the guitar has had, and will continue to have, a huge impact on generations of players.
