Jazz Guitarist Index | Los Angeles or Skype Guitar Lessons with Vreny

List of Jazz Guitarists

A couple of years ago I set out to create the most thorough list of jazz guitarists.
Here’s what I have so far:

1. Blake Aaron
2. Eivind Aarset
3. Rez Abbasi
4. John Abercrombie
5. Paul Abler
6. Steve Abshire
7. Morris Acevedo
8. Bernard Addison
9. Steve Adelson
10. Dan Adler
11. Ron Affif
12. Noel Akchote
13. Jan Akkerman
14. Odd Steinar Albrigtsen
15. Howard Alden
16. Johnny Alegre
17. Oscar Alemán
18. Glenn Alexander
19. Neal Alger
20. Laurindo Almeida
21. Peter Almqvist
22. Frode Alnæs
23. Leonardo Amuedo
24. Chuck Anderson
25. Tuck Andress
26. John Anello Jr
27. Michael Anthony
28. Ron Anthony
29. Marc Antoine
30. Bruce Arnold
31. Irving Ashby
32. Dave Askren
33. Badi Assad
34. Gustavo Assis-Brasil
35. Chet Atkins
36. Erich Avinger

37. Elek Bacsik
38. Mike Baggetta
39. Derek Bailey (the most radical)
40. Sheryl Bailey (blazing style, need to check out)
41. Bob Bain
42. Clint Baker
43. Duck Baker
44. Matt Balitsaris
45. Dave Barbour
46. A Spencer Barefield
47. Danny Barker
48. Everett Barksdale
49. Junior Barnard
50. George Barnes
51. Jeff Barone
52. Carl Barry
53. John Basile
54. Frode Barth
55. Billy Bauer
56. Billy Bean
57. Gerry Beaudoin
58. Jeff Beck
59. Joe Beck
60. David Becker
61. Jean-Marc Belkadi
62. Robert Bell
63. Roni Ben-Hur
64. George Benson
65. Rolf Berg
66. Gonzalo Bergara
67. Chris Bergson
68. Randy Bernsen’s
69. Peter Bernstein
70. Gene Bertoncini
71. Mads Berven
72. Skeeter Best
73. Ed Bickert
74. Brian Blade
75. Jack Bland
76. Michael Bocian
77. Pascal Bokar
78. Paul Bollenback
79. Luiz Bonfá
80. Perry Botkin Sr
81. Jean-Paul Bourelly
82. Al Bowlly
83. Ned Boynton
84. Terry Bradds
85. Sean Bray
86. Joshua Breakstone
87. Lenny Breau
88. Zachary Breaux
89. Terence Brewer
90. Bobby Broom
91. Andy Brown
92. Norman Brown
93. Sam Brown
94. Dale Bruning
95. Jimmy Bruno
96. John Bruschini
97. Mike Bryan
98. Jimmy Bryant
99. Buckethead
100. Dennis Budimir
101. Hiram Bullock
102. Teddy Bunn
103. Teddy Bunn
104. Kenny Burrell
105. Andre Bush
106. Billy Butler
107. Jonathan Butler
108. Charlie Byrd

109. Al Caiola
110. Glen Campbell
111. Royce Campbell
112. Jim Campilongo
113. Brent Canter
114. Andre Caporaso
115. Joe Capraro
116. Ana Caram
117. Steve Cardenas
118. John Carlini
119. Larry Carlton
120. Danny Caron
121. Stian Carstensen
122. Joe Carter
123. Deirdre Cartwright
124. Al Casey
125. Oscar Castro-Neves
126. Philip Catherine
127. Katie Cavera
128. Mike Cea
129. Franco Cerri
130. Eugene Chadbourne
131. Emmet Chapman
132. Roger Chaput
133. Fawzi Chekili
134. Ed Cherry
135. Andrew Cheshire (free and refreshing, check him out)
136. John Chiodini
137. James Chirillo
138. Charlie Christian
139. Corey Christiansen
140. Joe Cinderella
141. Roy Clark
142. Bruce Clarke
143. Doug Clarke
144. Greg Clayton
145. Dave Cliff
146. Nels Cline
147. Joe Cohn
148. George Cole
149. Joyce Cooling
150. Cal Collins
151. John Collins
152. Ken Colyer
153. Eddie Condon
154. Bill Connors (Return to Forever)
155. Robert Conti
156. Ry Cooder
157. Michael Coppola
158. Larry Coryell
159. Pete Cosey
160. Ray Crawford
161. Steve Cropper
162. David Cullen

163. Thomas T. Dahl
164. Laurie Dameron
165. Jerome Darr
166. Daniel Heløy Davidsen
167. Bill DeArango
168. Angelo Debarre
169. Graham Dechter (b. 7/23/1986, LA)
170. Phil deGruy
171. Paco de Lucía
172. Mike DeMicco
173. Tom Dempsey
174. Cary DeNigris
175. Bob Devos
176. Mike DiBari
177. Eddie Diehl
178. Al Di Meola
179. Sacha Distel
180. Joe Diorio
181. Diz Disley
182. Lonnie Donegan
183. Pat Donohue
184. Christy Doran
185. Jim Douglas
186. Ted Dunbar
187. Cornell Dupree
188. Eddie Duran
189. Eddie Durham

190. David Eastlee
191. Jon Eberson
192. Lars Edegran
193. Bruce Eisenbeil
194. Howard Elkins
195. Charles Ellerbee
196. Edward Ellington II
197. Herb Ellis
198. Danny Embrey
199. James Emery
200. Tommy Emmanuel
201. Eddie Erickson
202. Gene Ess
203. Ron Eschete
204. Christian Escoude
205. John Etheridge
206. Bus Etri (b.1917 NY – d.21 Aug 1941, Culver City, CA, car accident, 24 years old)
207. Kevin Eubanks

208. Dan Faehnle
209. Tal Farlow
210. Buzzy Feiten
211. Mordy Ferber
212. Jim Ferguson
213. Julio Fernandez
214. Per Arne Ferner
215. Boulou Ferre
216. Elios Ferre
217. Jean-Pierre “Matelo” Ferret
218. Pierre “Baro” Ferret
219. Garrison Fewell
220. Scott Fields
221. Ed Fila
222. Carl Filipiak
223. Jamie Findlay
224. Barry Finnerty
225. Jacob Fischer
226. Andy Fite
227. David Fiuczynski
228. Brick Fleagle
229. Rod Fleeman
230. William “Biddy” Fleet
231. Chris Flory
232. Ronaldo Folegatti
233. Robben Ford
234. Bruce Forman
235. Mark Fosset
236. Mimi Fox
237. Christer Fredriksen
238. Russ Freeman
239. Robert Fripp
240. Bill Frisell
241. Carl Filipiak
242. Nir Felder
243. Scott Fivelson
244. Peter Frampton (Verve 543514 in 1984, Monk’s “Work” on “That’s The Way It is”)
245. Fred Frith

246. Gabor Gado
247. Slim Gaillard
248. Barry Galbraith
249. Eric Gale
250. Charlie Galloway

Led one of the very first, slightly jazz-oriented bands in 1889.
No recordings exist of his playing.

251. Frank Gambale
252. Oliver Gannon
253. Keith Ganz
254. Al Garcia
255. Dick Garcia
256. Paulinho Garcia
257. Hank Garland
258. Arv Garrison
259. Danny Gatton
260. Nigel Gavin
261. Jay Geils (“Jay Geils Plays Jazz”)
262. Grant Geissman
263. Mike Gellar
264. Jane Getter
265. Banu Gibson
266. Gene Gifford
267. Joe Giglio
268. Joao Gilberto
269. David Gilmore
270. Greg Ginn
271. Steve Giordano
272. Egberto Gismonti
273. Jamie Glaser
274. Jeff Golub
275. Mick Goodrick (post bob)
276. Torsten Goods
277. John Goodsall
278. Pedro Javier González
279. Tony Gottuso
280. Jimmy Gourley (hard bop solos)
281. Guthrie Govan
282. Davy Graham
283. Jack Grassell
284. Douglas B. Green
285. Freddie Green
286. Grant Green
287. Grant Green Jr
288. Barry Greene
289. Ted Greene
290. Sonny Greenwich
291. Tiny Grimes
292. Igor Grigoriev
293. Marty Grosz
294. Ivar Grydeland
295. Jostein Gulbrandsen
296. Fred Guy (Ellington Orchestra

297. Bobby Hacket
298. Jerry Hahn
299. Jim Hall
300. Stuart Hall
301. Mary Halvorson (b. Oct 16th , 1980). A fierce improviser, avant-garde
302. Bob Hames
303. Fred Hamilton
304. Steve Hancoff (b. Fe 13, 1948, ragtime)
305. Fareed Haque (b. 1 Jan 1963)
306. Richard Hart
307. Albert Harris
308. Bill Harris
309. Jerome Harris
310. Joel Harrison
311. John Hart (b. 15 June 1961modern mainstream )
312. Richie Hart
313. Ken Hatfield (hard to classify)
314. Svein Dag Hauge
315. Jeff Healey
316. Gilad Hekselman (b. Feb3, 1983, Israel)
317. Scott Henderson (b. Aug 26, 1954, West Palm Beach. FL). www.scotthenderson.net
318. Al Hendrickson (Artie Shaw Orchestra, extremely busy studio guitarist)
319. Steve Herberman (Sept 10, 1966, Bethesda MD)
320. Jon Herington
321. Even Helte Hermansen
322. Jimmy Herring
323. Jim Hershmen
324. Carl Hogan
325. Allan Holdsworth (Aug 6, 1946, Bradford, Yorkshire, UK)
326. Clarence Holiday
327. Sol Hoopii
328. Toninho Horta
329. Michael Howell
330. Diane Hubka
331. Brian Hughes
332. Charlie Hunter (b. May 23, 1967, Providence, RI)

8 string
bop-based guitarist with an open mind towards funk and R&B
www.charliehunter.com

333. Clifton Hyde
334. James “Tootie” Hogan

335. Adrian Ingram
336. Ike Isaacs
337. Enver İzmaylov

338. Michael Gregory Jackson
339. Milt Jackson
340. Paul Jackson Jr.
341. Ron Jackson (b. July 27, 1964, Manilla, Philippines, hard-bop-based guitarist.)
342. Sid Jacobs
343. Bert Jansch
344. Tomas Janzon
345. Rolf Jardeman
346. Bill Jennings
347. Chris Jentsch
348. Denny Jiosa
349. Antonio Carlos Jobim
350. Kim Johannesen
351. Nils-Olav Johansen
352. Art Johnson
353. Eric Johnson (b. Sept 14, 1954, Pittsburgh, PA, Bluesy soulful)
354. Henry Johnson (Straight-ahead jazz guitarist)
355. Lonnie Johnson (One of a couple of top jazz guitarists from the ’20s)
356. Wayne Johnson (Superior guitarist)
357. Randy Johnston (Straight ahead who invigorates the hard bop/soul-jazz tradition)
358. Rodney Jones
359. Ronny Jordan
360. Stanley Jordan
361. Steve Jordan
362. John Jorgenson (Gypsy jazz)
363. Joyce (Brazilian singer. “Music Inside”)
364. Barbara Jungfer
365. Vic Juris

366. Dirk K
367. Henry Kaiser

Hard to classify.
Worked with Fred Frith a lot

368. Ray Kamalay
369. Terry Kath
370. Halvard Kausland
371. Ryo Kawasaki (Fusion)
372. Pat Kelley
373. Barney Kessell
374. Calvin Keys
375. Steve Khan
376. Rebecca Kilgore
377. Mark Kimbrell
378. B.B. King
379. Jackie King
380. Frode Kjekstad
381. Bjørn Klakegg
382. Oscar Klein
383. Mark Kleinhaut (Hard bop and post bop jazz)
384. Earl Klugh
385. Jan Erik Kongshaug
386. Dave Koonse
387. Larry Koonse
388. Jerry Krahn
389. Wayne Krantz
390. Jonathan Kreisberg
391. Tor Egil Kreken
392. Carl Kress
393. Frank Kvinge

394. Fapy Lafertin
395. Julian Lage
396. Biréli Lagrène
397. Nappy Lamare
398. Shawn Lane
399. Eddie Lang
400. Jon Larsen
401. Steve Laury
402. Hugh Leal
403. Gene Leis
404. Peter Leitch
405. Nguyên Lê
406. Harry Leahey
407. Bob Leary
408. Michael Leasure
409. Peter Leitch
410. B.D. Lenz
411. Rob Levit
412. Adam Levy
413. O’Donel Levy
414. Vic Lewis
415. Vince Lewis
416. Arto Lindsay
417. Rudy Linka
418. Jeff Linsky
419. Ed Littman
420. Ulysses Livingston
421. Chuck Loeb
422. Bruce Lofgren
423. Lorne Lofsky
424. Lionel Loueke
425. Mundell Lowe
426. Robert Lowe Jr.
427. Romero Lubambo
428. Sylvain Luc
429. Nick Lucas
430. Reggie Lucas
431. Lawrence Lucie
432. Steve Lukather
433. Lage Lund
434. Alf Wilhelm Lundberg

435. Doug MacDonald
436. Alex Machacek
437. Billy Mackel
438. Russell Malone
439. Ahmad Mansour
440. Janet Marlow
441. Jack Marshall
442. Eddie Martinez
443. Pat Martino
444. Steve Masakowski
445. Carmen Mastren
446. Yoshiaki Masuo
447. Hans Mathisen
448. Rick Matle
449. Will Matthews
450. Peter Mazza
451. Pete McCann
452. Charlie McCoy
453. Dick McDonough
454. Eddie McFadden
455. John McLaughlin
456. John McLean
457. Dick McPartland
458. Lou Mecca
459. Paul Mehling (Gypsy jazz)
460. Coleman Mellett
461. Chris Mello
462. Pat Metheny
463. Paul Meyers
464. Rale Micic
465. Fredrik Mikkelsen
466. Jane Miller (Post-bop)
467. John Mills Jr
468. Dom Minasi
469. Chieli Minucci
470. Roman Miroshnichenko
471. Andreas Mjøs
472. Amanda Monaco
473. Ben Monder
474. Wes Montgomery
475. Davy Mooney
476. Johnny Moore
477. Oscar Moore
478. Juarez Moreira
479. Mike Moreno
480. Joe Morris
481. Scotty Morris
482. Jelly Roll Morton
483. Tony Mottola (Frank Sinatra’s regular guitar player)
484. John Moulder
485. Ronald Muldrow
486. Jim Mullen
487. Matt Munisteri
488. Tisziji Munoz
489. Doug Munro
490. Ron Murray
491. Michael Musillami
492. Wolfgang Muthspiel
493. Kim Myhr

494. Nate Najar
495. Randy Napoleon
496. Ken Navarro
497. King Benny Nawahi
498. Joe Negri[1]
499. Willie Nelson (“Two Men With The Blues”)
500. Calvin Newborn
501. Paul “Dutch” Newman
502. Bern Nix (Ornette Coleman’s guitarist)
503. Robin Nolan
504. Robert Normann
505. Issei Noro
506. Øystein Norvoll
507. Brian Nova
508. Oz Noy

509. Andreas Öberg
510. Ray Obiedo
511. Dave Occhipinti
512. Jordan Officer
513. Miles Okazaki
514. Steve Oliver
515. Mary Osborne

516. Remo Palmieri
517. Jeff Parker
518. Eugene Pao
519. Jackie Paris
520. John Parricelli
521. Andreas Paolo Perger
522. Joe Pass (Was the ultimate bebop guitarist)
523. Lino Patruno
524. Ralph Patt
525. Roy Patterson
526. Les Paul
527. Hallgeir Pedersen
528. Ricardo Peixoto
529. Oscar Peñas
530. Mike Peters
531. Evan Perri
532. Bobby Perry
533. Jack Petersen
534. Lorenzo Petrocca
535. Reynold Philipsek
536. John Pisano
537. Bucky Pizzarelli
538. John Pizzarelli
539. Mary Pizzarelli
540. Jimmy Ponder
541. Kenny Poole
542. Frank Portolese
543. Frank Potenza
544. Baden Powell
545. Doc Powell
546. Jean-Francois Prins
547. Rue Protzer
548. Joe Puma
549. Tony Purrone

550. Snoozer Quinn

551. Rafael Rabello
552. Brad Rabuchin
553. Corinne Bailey Rae
554. Adam Rafferty
555. Doug Raney
556. Jimmy Raney
557. Ernest Ranglin
558. Aurell Ray
559. Ray Reach
560. Vernon Reid
561. Babik Reinhardt
562. Django Reinhardt
563. Josef “Nin Nin” Reinhardt
564. Emily Remler
565. Allan Reuss
566. Alvino Ray
567. Paul Renz
568. John Reynolds
569. Marc Ribot
570. Jeff Richman
571. Reuben Ristrom
572. Lee Ritenour
573. Jimmy Rivers
574. Tony Rizzi
575. Howard Roberts
576. Duke Robillard
577. Jim Robitaille
578. Steve Rochinski
579. Jimmy Rodgers (song “Blue Yodel no 9”)
580. Adam Rogers
581. Romane
582. Jimmy Rosenberg
583. Stochelo Rosenberg
584. Jamie Rosenn
585. Kurt Rosenwinkel
586. Brandon Ross
587. Thom Rotella
588. Avi Rothbard
589. Issi Rozen
590. Chris Ruppenthal
591. Art Ryerson
592. Jakob Terjesønn Rypdal
593. Terje Rypdal

594. Luis Salinas
595. Sal Salvador
596. Dennis Sandole
597. Thomas Sankara
598. Gray Sargent
599. Akio Sasajima
600. Bruce Saunders
601. Paulus Schäfer
602. Philip Schjetlein
603. Karl Schloz
604. Dorado Schmitt
605. Tchavolo Schmitt
606. Joachim Schoenecker
607. Marzio Scholten
608. Reg Schwager
609. Thornel Schwartz
610. John Scofield
611. Andrew Scott
612. Bud Scott
613. Ari Seder
614. Mitch Seidman
615. Spencer Seim
616. Karen Segal
617. Bola Sete
618. Brian Setzer
619. Marvin Sewell
620. Agboola Shadare
621. Eldon Shamblin
622. Kendra Shank
623. Elliott Sharp
624. Sonny Sharrock
625. Brad Shepik
626. Ben Sher
627. Bobby Sherwood
628. Jimmy Shirley
629. Jon Sholle
630. James Silberstein
631. Yotam Silberstein
632. Ricardo Silveira
633. Ronnie Singer
634. Kenneth Sivertsen
635. David Aleksander Sjølie
636. Alex Skolnick
637. Margaret Slovak
638. Roy Smeck
639. Floyd Smith
640. George M Smith
641. Johnny Smith
642. Kenn Smith
643. Richard Smith
644. Terry Smith
645. Pete Smyser
646. Bob Sneider
647. Jay Soto
648. Fabrizio Sotti
649. Les Spann
650. Melvin Sparks
651. Tim Sparks
652. Peter Sprague
653. Torgeir Standal
654. Chris Standring
655. John Stein
656. Joscho Stephan
657. Leni Stern
658. Mike Stern
659. Jimmy Stewart
660. Lewis Stewart
661. Håkon Storm-Mathisen
662. Rick Stone
663. Jonathan Stout
664. Margaret Stowe
665. Dave Stryker
666. Rory Stuart
667. Håvard Stubø
668. Thorgeir Stubø
669. Daryl Stuermer
670. Monnette Sudler
671. Andy Summers
672. Ewan Svensson
673. Nelson Symonds
674. Gábor Szabó

675. Ed Taylor
676. Martin Taylor
677. Tommy Tedesco
678. Marlina Teich
679. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
680. Toots Thielemans
681. René Thomas
682. Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen
683. Kåre Thomsen
684. Ole Thomsen
685. Wayman Tisdale
686. Jukka Tolonen
687. David Torn
688. Gisle Torvik
689. Zvonimir Tot
690. Ralph Towner
691. Mark Towns
692. But Tristano
693. David Tronzo
694. John Tropea

695. James “Blood” Ulmer
696. Phil Upchurch
697. Stein Urheim

698. Jaime Valle
699. George Van Eps
700. Rick Vandivier
701. Jesse Van Ruller
702. Eugene Vees
703. Craig Ventresco
704. Frank Victor
705. Frank Vignola
706. Randy Vincent
707. Al Viola
708. Knut Værnes
709. Petter Vågan
710. Ricardo Vogt
711. Harry Volpe
712. Matthew Von Doran

713. Ulf Wakenius
714. Mike Walker
715. T-Bone Walker
716. John Bruce Wallace
717. Efferge Ware
718. Leonard Ware
719. Quentin Warren
720. Kazumi Watanabe
721. Mitch Watkins
722. Chuck Wayne
723. Carl Weingarten
724. Lloyd Wells
725. Magni Wentzel
726. Stian Westerhus
727. Hy White
728. Peter White
729. Mark Whitfield
730. Jack Wilkins
731. Bernie Williams
732. Claude Williams
733. Mark Wingfield
734. Christian Skår Winther
735. Anthony Wilson
736. Lew Woodall
737. Stephane Wrembel
738. Denny Wright
739. Wayne Wright
740. Jimmy Wyble

741. Patrick Yandall
742. Masaya Yamaguchi
743. Jacob Young
744. Dhafer Youssef

745. Frank Zappa
746. Richie Zellon
747. Attila Zoller
748. Rick Zunigar
749. Barry Zweig

Top 30 Jazz Giants (Roughly in chronological order)

Eddie Lang
Carl Kress
Dick McDonough
George Van Eps
Django Reinhardt
Les Paul
Charlie Christian
Barney Kessel
Tal Farlow
Jimmy Raney
Jim Hall
Charlie Byrd
Wes Montgomery
Grant Green
Joe Pass
George Benson
Pat Martino
Derek Bailey
Sonny Sharrock
John McLaughlin
Al Di Meola
Pat Metheny
John Scofield
Howard Alden
Bill Frisell
Mike Stern
Russell Malone
Stanley Jordan
Birelli Lagrene
Charlie Hunter

Download the whole list in the following pdf.

Jazz Guitarists Index

Hit me up anytime at vreny@zotzinmusic.com if you would like me to email you the MS Word file of the above list. The Word document has clickable urls to the websites or Wikipedia pages of many of the listed guitar players who have Wikipedia pages. Just click on the guitarist’s name and you are directed to a wealth of information for each guitarist who has a Wikipedia page. I gladly email you that fun little jazz guitarist index.

Also shoot me an email if you have any questions about anything guitar, or if you would like to book a lesson. You’re on your way to becoming a great guitar player. Have fun! 🙂

Conclusion

Hit me up anytime at vreny@zotzinmusic.com if you have any questions, or if you would like to book a lesson.

These free lessons are cool, but you will never experience the progress, joy, and results that my students experience in lessons when you’re learning by yourself from blogs and videos.

That is why people take lessons: way better results and progress, much more complete information, exposed to way more creative ideas than you can get from a blog or YouTube video.
There is only so much that self-study can accomplish.

If you want to see amazing results and progress in your guitar playing, buy your first lesson here and get started ASAP.