Nothing upsets preconceived minds like someone who successfully crosses over to another genre after he has been thoroughly pigeonholed by experts in a previous one. Such was Hank Garland, Nashville's busiest country guitar picker who, with little warning, made a superb jazz album in mid-career and seemed headed for jazz stardom until an auto accident left him unable to perform. As a jazz performer, Garland had a fertile melodic and harmonic imagination and a sound that had apparently honed to the gospel of tone and attack according to Charlie Christian -- with some Les Paul mixed in and more than a touch of Bud Powell's influence as well.
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© 2008