5 of My Most Important & Less Obvious Guitar Influences
Vernon Reid
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman was most known as the lead guitarist for the band Focus. He is incredibly skilled in a variety of styles, and is an accomplished lute player as well as a fire breathing soloist. I’ve always admired his enigmatic jazz influenced phrasing. This is him performing a double necked solo without looping.
Sonny Sharrock
Sonny Sharrock is finally getting his due as the iconic unconventionalist who helped liberate guitar as a means of expression. Here he is being groovy with Herbie Mann.
Arthur Rhames
Arthur Rhames was an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist. A saxophonist, pianist and unbelievable guitarist. He was a fellow Brooklynite and was an essential influence on me. This is a mainly audio (with stills) of Arthur with his Fusion trio Eternity live in Prospect Park in 1975, with Cleveland Alleyne on bass and Colin Young on drums.
Bill Connors
Bill Connors was the first guitarist with Chick Corea’s band Return To Forever. That first album, Hymn Of The 7th Galaxy, had a tremendous impact on me. Connors is both technically adept and emotionally raw in a way that was rare to encounter. Here is rare live footage of that lineup.
Pete Cosey
Pete Cosey was a Chicago Blues and R&B session player who played on the controversial masterpiece Electric Mud. John Lee Hooker famously told him that he “needed a haircut!” in much the same way Carla Thomas exhorted Otis Redding to get one in the song Tramp. Pete remained defiantly himself! Here he is with Miles Davis in 1973. Check him out starting at 6:10, if you have a mind to, though I suggest watching from the top for context.
