You say tomato ...

Electric guitar is a funny instrument. Compared to other instruments common in jazz and other improvised music, it's pretty hard to play a lot of notes, particularly at fast tempos. Those who do manage to achieve "speed" comparable to what pretty much any entry-level saxophonist or pianist can do are few and far between. Those can do this, and not sound like they're working really hard are among the the very best in the business. Those who can make speed sound easy and make unusual, insteresting music ... well ... that's genius.

Now, there's a "right" way, to play fast -- picking all the notes according to a system, keeping things even and tight. Using hammer-ons, and other guitarry quirks only for effect and expression. The ultimate example of this kind of tightness is probably Pat Martino. Outside of the world of jazz guitarists, he's relatively unknown. Among guitarists, though, he's a god, the true musician's musician, the platonic form of the way you're supposed to do it. But the chops aren't the most interesting thing about him -- his phrasing, his harmonic pallet, and an amazing dynamic range (both literal, and, for lack of a better expression, spiritual), are really what make him a killer. There's also the astonishing fact that he lost most of his mental capacity, including everything he knew about the guitar, following a near-fatal brain aneurysm, then systematically re-built himself intellectually and artistically, but that's a story for another day.

There's also a "wrong" way -- picking only a fraction of the notes, and hammering on, pulling off, or sliding into the rest, while paying no attention to your up and down strokes. That's what I do, an unabashed, lazy technique-cheater. It's the only way I can make the notes on up tempo tunes, and it sounds like it. It's also what John Scofield does, but he's a genius. For him, it's a style, a choice. When he plays, no matter how fast the tempo, and no matter how many notes he's playing, he always sounds like he's going slow, just lazing his way around the fretboard. I don't know any stories about his brain exploding, though I did once see him lose his chewing gum in the middle of a solo.

All of the foregoing is just an excuse for posting a video I scared up on YouTube -- a jam featuring Pat Martino and John Scofield, each tearing it up the way only he can. I'm not sure how it sounds to ears a bit less attuned to jazz guitar, but to me, it's as if they were playing different instruments, on different planets, yet, amazingly, perfectly complementing each other. Joey D. ain't half bad either ;-).

Enjoy ...