Brothers Who Burn On the Guitar

After one of my recent performances, a brother came up to the stage and said he dug the show and made the comment that “you don’t see many brothers playing guitar,” to which I replied “believe me, there are plenty of us out there.”   Then we got into this discussion of how long I’ve been playing and who I listened to.  Like most kids, I took years of piano lessons.  Then I took a brief stab at the saxophone…mainly because my high school saxophone teacher was this cool jazz guy that all the girls liked. 

Women love saxophone players.  The guy can have two teeth in his mouth, but if he can blow that sax, he’s going to be collecting phone numbers at the end of the night!  My junior year in college I bought my first guitar and thus began a long love affair with the beloved axe.  Although I listen to all types of music and have been influenced by guitar players of all races, colors and musical styles, this is Black Music Month, so I thought it appropriate to give a very brief Top Ten list of the Black guitar players that paved the road on my musical journey.

Prince
I’m a hardcore Prince fan and was listening to Prince long before I started playing guitar, back when I would pick up my tennis racquet and play air guitar to “Bambi.”  Just pick up any CD and check out his soaring solos and funky rhythm work.  Any doubters had to have been silenced after the recent Super Bowl or his earth shattering solo on the Rock and Roll Hall of fame when he tore up “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
www.3121.com

Jimi Hendrix
Now you know I had to get into Jimi once I started playing.  I drove my roommate in college crazy because I played the “Electric Ladyland” album 24/7.  There aren’t enough words to describe how bad Jimi was and to say he was ahead of his time would be an understatement.   He was doing things in the 60’s that still amaze guitar players today. Although he departed this life at the early age of 27, he left behind an unprecedented guitar legacy. 
www.jimihendrix.com

Jesse Johnson
Jesse is the guitarist from my favorite band growing up, The Time.  Though the first two “Time” albums were really Prince and Morris you can always hear Jesse’s work on “Jungle Love,” as well as his solo material like “Can You Help Me” and “Free World.”  Now if you really want to hear Jesse tear it up,check out his independent release “Bare My Naked Soul.”
www.myspace.com/jessejohnsonfunk
         

Ernie Isley
I always liked the Isley Brothers but it wasn’t until I started playing that I really took notice of the guitar work of Ernie Isley.  The songs that really caught my ear were “Summer Breeze” and the beautiful chords on “Footsteps In The Dark.”  It’s no surprise that long before the days of “Mr. Big” the Isleys hired a young guitar player named Jimi Hendrix to tour as a member of the band early in his career.  Go to a used CD store or on-line and cop Ernie’s solo album “High Wire.”
www.theisleybrothers.net

Eddie Hazel
Although there are several extremely talented guitarists in the P-funk family, it was Eddie playing on Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” that just blew my mind.  That’s when I became a true Funkateer.  In my book it’s one of the best solos of all time.  Eddie is no longer with us but his work lives on and fortunately there’s a lot of live footage of Eddie that’ll have you yelling and throwin’ up the funk sign. www.myspace.com/eddiehazel

Hiram Bullock
Hiram has played with everyone from David Sanborn to James Brown.  I found a copy of his “From All Sides” album in the jazz section, when I was a DJ at the college radio station.  Although Hiram’s style incorporates rock and funk it was his song “Window Shopping” that kicked off my first attempt at playing jazz guitar. www.hirambullock.com

Wes Montgomery
While at home on summer break my father came into my room and tossed Wes Montgomery’s “A Day In The Life” album on my bed and said “now if you want to learn jazz, listen to this.”  How right he was.  Another brother who left this life too early, Wes had a unique style and beautiful tone.  His song “Bumpin’ On Sunset” is in regular rotation on my iPod.
www.edfila.com/wes/

Vernon Reid
Vernon is best known as the founder of the group Living Colour and when they released their debut album “Vivid” I was hooked from the opening riff of “Cult Of Personality.”  His solo work incorporates rock, soul, jazz, hip hop, name a genre and it’s there somewhere.  Check out “Mistaken Identity” and listen to the title track or one of my favorites “Cp Time.” Vernon’s guitar work is out of this world.
www.myspace.com/vernonreid

Ben Harper
Ben is best known for his great songwriting and wicked slide guitar style.   He sells out venues all over the world but it was a 1995 concert in a small club that influenced my songwriting style.  At one point he performed a series of songs with just with just an acoustic guitar. Before that concert I was still using the piano as my songwriting tool.  But the next week I bought an old acoustic and started writing music with just guitar.  Ben’s double CD “Live From Mars” would be a great introduction to this incredibly talented guitarist.
www.benharper.net

Wah Wah Watson
Simply put, he’s a groove master!  I actually had no idea who he was when I heard the first opening guitar chords on Maxwell’s “Urban Hang Suite.”  However, after becoming obsessed with that CD, I then learned that Wah Wah has been doing his thing since the 70’s and is the man behind some of my favorite classics, namely “Pappa Was A Rolling Stone” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You,” just to name a few. 
www.wahwah.com