JasonShadrick

As one of the leading guitarists in the Jam Scene, Jimmy Herring is a purveyor of all things guitar.

I first heard of Jimmy from one of my guitar teachers who had given me a copy of an Aquarium Rescue Unit CD.  At that time I was really into bands like Gov’t Mule, but I had not come across Jimmy yet.  After listening to the quirkyness of ARU, I was sold.

This year at National Guitar Workshop we have the great fortune of not only bringing in Jimmy for our Jam Summit, but also Oteil Burbridge.  Many, many people have inquired about this and it is sure to be an amazing time.

Both Jimmy and Oteil are educated musicians who really know how to convey musical concepts.

Recently a guitarist on Twitter forwarded me a link to a video of Jimmy playing a Steve Morse tune at a student concert at GIT.

Click Here to see the video.

As you can see, even back in ’85 Jimmy was quite the developed musician. The other guitarists in the video aren’t slouches either.

After I booked Jimmy and Oteil for the Jam Summit, I started to do some research to see what kind of videos are out there.  Here are some of the better ones I found.

Here is a short video of a clinic that Jimmy gave at the Atlanta Institute of Music.

Shawn Lane with Aquarium Rescue Unit:

Jimmy sitting in with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon:

Great Short Documentary on Oteil:

Here is Grant’s Transcribed Solo

Grant Green is one of my biggest influences.  I first heard about him from my guitar teacher in college, who didn’t care for him too much.  I then was a casual listener until I became friends with Corey Christiansen.  Corey is the closest to a GG scholar that I have ever met.  He has literally written the book on Grant’s playing style.

This solo on “Cool Blues” was one I transcribed in college for a blues improvisation class.  It is a great example of Grant’s style in a medium blues setting.  I am a firm believer that nobody could touch Grant when it came to playing over a blues.

I also isolated some of Grant’s key phrases and wrote those out below

Grant Green Licks

Finally, one of my favorite (and only) videos of Grant.  Here is his playing with Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessell.  I love both Kenny and Barney’s playing, but on this tune neither one can touch Grant.

Grant Green Video