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Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass recorded and performed live with pianist Oscar Peterson, composer Duke Ellington, and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, and he is generally esteemed as one of the most notable jazz guitarists of the 20th century for his solo guitar playing, found on recordings such as Virtuoso.

== Early life ==

Pass was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on January 13, 1929. His father, Mariano Passalacqua, was a steel-mill worker who was born in Sicily. The family later moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Pass became interested in playing guitar after seeing Gene Autry perform in the Western film Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride.

Pass received his first guitar and started creating music at age 9. Pass stated his first guitar was a Harmony, and that he had asked for a guitar for his birthday. He began playing for neighbors, and learned chords from his father's Italian friends. He attended guitar lessons every Sunday with a local teacher for six to eight months and practiced for up to six hours per day, rapidly advancing in skill level. As he improved his craft, he participated in the local music scene of Johnstown, where he would enjoy the company of other guitarists and listen to the music that was being created.

Pass was finding paying gigs at dances and weddings in Johnstown as early as age 14, playing with bands led by Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet, honing his guitar skills while "learning the ropes" in the music industry. He began traveling with small jazz groups and moved from Pennsylvania to New York City.

Pass would continue to perform with big bands until 1947, when he enlisted and served in the US military.

Pass developed an addiction to heroin after his tenure in the military had ended. He lived in New Orleans for a year, playing bebop at strip clubs. Pass later revealed that he had suffered a "nervous breakdown" in New Orleans due to virtually unlimited access to drugs that enabled the musician to engage in severe benders. Pass recalled, "I would come to New York a lot, then get strung out and leave."

Pass spent much of the 1950s in and out of prison for drug-related convictions. Pass said, "Staying high was my first priority; playing was second; girls were third. But the first thing really took all my energy." He recovered after a two-and-a-half-year stay in the Synanon rehabilitation program, largely putting his music on hold during his prison sentence.

== Career ==

Pass released his studio debut Sounds of Synanon on July 1, 1962.

Pass recorded and released a series of albums during the 1960s under Pacific Jazz Records, including Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. In 1963, he received DownBeat magazine's New Star Award.

He also played on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. Pass was a member of the George Shearing Quintet from 1965 through 1967.

Throughout the 1960s, Pass primarily performed TV and recording session work in Los Angeles, including performing in television orchestras. Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve Records, signed Pass to Pablo Records in December 1973.

In December 1974, Pass released his solo album Virtuoso on Pablo. Also in 1974, Pablo released the album The Trio with Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. He performed with them on many occasions throughout the 1970s and 1980s. At the Grammy Awards of 1975, The Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group. As part of the Pablo roster, Pass recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie.

Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded six albums together on Pablo toward the end of Fitzgerald's career: Take Love Easy (1973), Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), Hamburg Duets - 1976 (1976), Sophisticated Lady (1975, 1983), Speak Love (1983), and Easy Living (1986).

== Later life and death ==

Pass was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1992. Although he was initially responsive to treatment and continued to play into 1993, his health eventually declined, forcing him to cancel his tour with Pepe Romero, Paco Peña, and Leo Kottke. Pass performed for the final time on May 7, 1994, with fellow guitarist John Pisano at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Pisano told Guitar Player that after the performance Pass said "I can't play anymore", an exchange that Pisano described as "like a knife in my heart." Pass died from liver cancer in Los Angeles 16 days later, at the age of 65. Prior to his death, he recorded an album of Hank Williams songs with country guitarist Roy Clark.

Speaking about Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2, Jim Ferguson wrote:

The follow up to 1993's Joe Pass & Co. Live at Yoshi's, this release was colored by sad circumstances: both bassist Monty Budwig and Pass were stricken with fatal illnesses. Nevertheless, all concerned, including drummer Colin Bailey and second guitarist John Pisano, play up to their usual high levels...Issued posthumously, this material is hardly sub-standard. Bristling with energy throughout, it helps document the final stages in the career of a player who, arguably, was the greatest mainstream guitarist since Wes Montgomery.

== Artistry ==

=== Technique ===

Pass's playing style was particularly recognizable for his ability to play melody, harmony and basslines simultaneously or contrapuntally, both in-tempo and in an “un-metered” style. Pass's single-note playing style is similar to the instrumental stylings of classic bebop and hard bop, drawing comparisons to the tones and timbres of wind instruments used in jazz music, such as the saxophone and trumpet, as well as other string instruments such as the piano. Jazz educator Wolf Marshall said Pass's musical flavorings were "hornlike and on par with his wealth of ideas and immense vocabulary, allowing single-note improvisations to flow like a saxophonist's stream of consciousness."

As Pass's career progressed, he developed an increasingly harmonic approach to improvisation that made extensive use of chord-melody solos, which produced a similar effect to that of a piano. He also employed a variety of different picking techniques such as fingerpicking, hybrid picking and "flat picking".

Pass's style was also said to have exhibited a "tougher funky aspect" by incorporating string bends, double stops and partial chords that variously borrow from blues, R&B and swing styles.

=== Influences ===

Throughout the 1940s, Pass became interested in modern jazz sounds that were emerging from New York City, where he would jam with many quintessential bebop musicians. Pass cited Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum and Coleman Hawkins as influences during this time. Pass was later influenced by the piano stylings of Oscar Peterson. Ironically, only three of the various jazz musicians he had cited as influences on his playing were actually guitarists; he cited Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery as instrumental in his development as a musician.

== Equipment ==

On Pass's early recordings, he played Fender solid-body electric guitars, such as the Jaguar and Jazzmaster. Additionally, Pass experimented with a Fender Bass VI 6-string bass on his 1963 album Catch Me. In 1963, Pass was given as a gift a Gibson ES175D arch-top electric-acoustic guitar that had twin humbucking pickups.

== Legacy ==

New York magazine wrote: "Joe Pass looks like somebody's uncle and plays guitar like nobody's business. He's called 'the world's greatest' and often compared to Paganini for his virtuosity. There is a certain purity to his sound that makes him stand out easily from other first-rate jazz guitarists."

He weaves his own fast-moving chords and filigree work so nimbly that it is hard to believe fingers can physically shift so quickly. Slight moustached, fairly balding, he frowns over his fretwork like a worried head waiter with more guests than tables but the sound that comes out could only be the confident product of years of devotion to the instrument... But it is when he plays completely solo, which he does for half of each set, that he comes into his own, because without hindrance of the rhythm section he can completely orchestrate each number. Sometimes it is by contrasting out of tempo sections with fast-moving interludes, sometimes by switching mood from wistful to lightly swinging, sometimes by alternating single-note lines with chords or simultaneous bass line and melody – the possibilities seem endless.

Veteran jazz writer Scott Yanow has conferred the titles of "the ultimate bebop guitarist", "the epitome of virtuoso guitarists", and "one of the top jazz voices of his generation" on Pass.

Internet personality and music “analyst” Rick Beato describes Pass as an early influence, and in several interviews has noted that among his adolescent achievements on the guitar was the performance of songs from Virtuoso at the encouragement of his father.

== Discography ==

== Bibliography ==

Mel Bay Presents Joe Pass "Off the Record." Mel Bay, 1993. ISBN 1-56222-687-8

Complete Joe Pass. Mel Bay, 2003. ISBN 0-7866-6747-8

Miyakaku, Takao. Joe Pass. Tokyo: Seiunsha, 2000. ISBN 4-434-00455-7 (photograph collection)

== References ==

== External links ==

Joe Pass Jazz Guitar Licks

Joe Pass Memorial Hall

Joe Pass Unedited article by Jim Ferguson

Joe Pass discography at Discogs

Joe Pass at IMDb

Source: Wikipedia ↗

Paulo Roberto da Costa (born May 31, 1948), is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Mendes.

He went on to perform with many American pop, rock and jazz musicians and participated in thousands of albums. DownBeat magazine call him "one of the most talented percussionists of our time." He played on such albums as Earth, Wind & Fire's I Am, Madonna's True Blue, hit singles and movie soundtracks, including Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain among others. He has also performed on Grammy-award winning albums and singles including USA for Africa's "We Are the World" (Album of the Year and Song of the Year), Dionne Warwick & Friends' "That's What Friends Are For" (Song of the Year), Michael Jackson's Thriller (Album of the Year), Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love (Album of the Year), the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (Album of the Year), Anita Baker's Giving You the Best That I Got (Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, Best R&B Song, Album of the Year, Song of the Year) Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (Best Disco Recording), Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" (Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal), Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium (Best Rock Album), among others. He has also performed with Diana Krall.

Da Costa plays more than 200 instruments professionally, and has worked in a variety of music genres including Brazilian, blues, Christian, country, disco, gospel, hip-hop, jazz, Latin, pop, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and world music. He was signed to Norman Granz's Pablo Records for three of his solo albums, Agora, Happy People and Sunrise, as well as Breakdown. Da Costa received the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Most Valuable Player Award for three consecutive years. He also received the Musicians Emeritus Award.

Da Costa received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 13, 2026, becoming the first Brazilian-born person to receive a star.

== Early life and career ==

Paulo Roberto da Costa was born in Irajá, a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and as a child began learning the pandeiro. He began performing in the samba parades in Rio de Janeiro and later joined the youth wing of Portela's Bateria, the rhythm section of a samba school. He became one of the most internationally known percussionists to emerge from the Samba Schools of Brazil (Escola de Samba). As a teen, da Costa traveled extensively with samba trios and quartets, Brazilian ensembles and Carnaval orchestras. His association with these groups offered him the opportunity to participate in music festivals around the world, in a troupe led by Jorge Goulart and Nora Ney.

Da Costa further developed his musical ability after being exposed to jazz and Cuban music and expanded the range of percussion instruments he could play. He later toured Europe and the Middle East with a Brazilian ensemble together with Waldir Maia e Alcione in 1970. In 1972, Paulinho participated in the Festival Internacional da Canção in the Maracanãzinho, performing the song Fio Maravilha, written about the soccer player Fio Maravilha, with Maria Alcina.

In 1972, da Costa moved to Los Angeles and played with Sergio Mendes from 1973 until 1976. He was introduced to Norman Granz by Dizzy Gillespie and was signed to Granz' label, Pablo Records. Da Costa's association with Granz and Pablo Records made it possible for him to receive permanent resident status in the US. Da Costa went on to record three solo albums under Pablo Records.

While in Los Angeles, he also worked with other artists and gained notoriety. The first album he recorded in Los Angeles was with a group called the Miracles. He played on their number-one charting song, "Love Machine", in 1975. Da Costa coproduced Ella Abraça Jobim with Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked extensively with Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, and Milt Jackson. Moreover, Da Costa ventured into a variety of genres and recorded with artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Donna Summer, Tavares, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie and Gloria Gaynor.

Da Costa toured with his band and performed at Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977.

== Session work ==

The All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music describes da Costa as one of the most in-demand session musicians in Los Angeles studios since the 1970s. He has worked with more than 900 musical artists and bands, performing on drums, bells, whistles and other instruments. He played on Dizzy Gillespie's albums including Free Ride, Dizzy's Party and Bahiana. Da Costa collaborated on several album by the R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire from the 1970s through the 1990s, such as All 'N All, I Am, Faces, Raise!, Powerlight, Millennium and In the Name of Love. He also worked with The Pointer Sisters and their producer Richard Perry on “He's So Shy”, “Slow Hand”, “I'm So Excited”, “Jump (For My Love)” and “Neutron Dance”.

Producer Quincy Jones chose da Costa to work on many projects, including the soundtracks for The Wiz and The Color Purple, as well as Jones's albums The Dude, Basie & Beyond, Back on the Block, Q's Jook Joint and From Q with Love. Da Costa was a regular on the albums that Jones produced, including The Brothers Johnson's Light Up the Night, George Benson's Give Me the Night, Donna Summer's Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand's Till I Loved You and USA for Africa's We Are the World. Michael Jackson called on da Costa for Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and Invincible.

Da Costa also performed on the albums of numerous Japanese performers, including jazz and J-pop artist Anri (Coool and 16th Summer Breeze), as well as jazz artist Sadao Watanabe (The Best, Front Seat and Sweet Deal),. In addition, da Costa appeared on Hitomi Tohyama's After 5:00 Story and Imagination, Takeshi Itoh's Dear Hearts and Brues For Lee, and Hiroshi Fukumura's Hunt Up Wind.

Da Costa left his mark on the film and industry by contributing to scores such as for Ally McBeal, Flashdance, Footloose, Selena and Sex and the City.

== Performances ==

1973–1976 – Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77

1977 – Montreux Jazz Festival (with da Costa's band)

1984 – Playboy Jazz Festival (with the Yellow Jackets)

1987 – The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards (with George Duke, David Sanborn, George Benson)

1988 – Rosemary Clooney "Singers' Salute to the Songwriters" Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

1990 – Lee Ritenour and Friends – Live from the Cocoanut Grove

1990 – Rainforest Foundation Benefit Performance at Ted Child's House (Sting, Paul Simon, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Hornsby, Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis)

1990 – Nelson Mandela – An International Tribute for a Free South Africa

1992 – Music Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (Lalo Shifrin Conductor)

1993 – Montreux Jazz Festival (George Duke, Al Jarreau)

1994 – The Kennedy Center Concert of the Americas with Quincy Jones, part of the Hemispheric Summit for all the Presidents of the Americas, 34 Countries, 150 performers

1995 – A Tribute to Tom Jobim, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center (Lee Ritenour, Joao Gilberto, Caetano Veloso)

1996 – Lalo Schifrin Big Band Schifrin's tribute to Dizzy Gillespie – "The Gillespiana Suite"

1997 – Songs And Visions Concert, Wembley Stadium (Tony Hollingsworth, Stewart Levine, Rod Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Seal, Mary J. Blige )

2001 – Eric Clapton Tour

2001 – Diana Krall, Live in Paris, Olympia

2006 – JC Penney Jam Concert For America's Kids (Dr. Phil, David Foster)

2008 – Montreux Jazz Festival (Quincy's 75th Anniversary)

2008 – Diana Krall Live in Rio

2010 – Montreux Jazz Festival (Quincy Jones & The Global Gumbo All-Stars)

2010 – Herbie Hancock's Seven Decades at the Hollywood Bowl

2012 – Mawazine Rhythms of the World Festival in Rabat, Morocco

2013 – Power of Love Gala, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center, MGM (Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Bono, ChrisTucker, Amy Poehler, Arsenio Hall, Whoopi Goldberg)

== Discography ==

== Selected discography of collaborations as a session musician ==

== References ==

== Sources ==

Kun, Josh, ed. (2017). The Tide Was Always High: The Music of Latin America in Los Angeles. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29440-0.

== External links ==

Official website

Paulinho da Costa discography at Discogs

Drummerworld.com: Paulinho da Costa

Source: Wikipedia ↗