The Puerto Rican Cuatro
The Puerto Rican cuatro is great for old-time and bluegrass music. In this video I explain why.
Charlie played with Benny Goodman for a breif period in the late 1930s before his untimely death. He was one of the first to play the electric guitar. He has influenced every major jazz guitarist that has come afterwards. In my opinion, he is the most influential of all jazz guitarists. My favorite songs of his are Flying Home, Till Tom Special, and Seven Come Eleven. They are on the Benny Goodman Sextet recordings.
Questions:
1. Where is Charlie Christian from?
2. Who influenced him?
3. Who has he influenced?
4. What kind of guitar did he use?
5. What kind of amplifier did he use?
6. Who is John Hammond?
7. Who is T-Bone Walker?
8. What did Benny Goodman think of the guitar before meeting Charlie?
Extra points (If I were actually giving points)
Who was Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walkers guitar teacher? (This is a hard one. Don’t kill yourself searching).
A good source for a lot of this info is Jazz, a History of America’s Music by Ken Burns.
I know that these are old recordings and old music. Some of you may not even like it when listening for the first time. But, these are the men that made history and inspired multitudes of musicians. Be patient, we will explore more modern players in time.