Het Amerikaanse jazzmagazine Downbeat geeft in haar februari editie - ter ere van het 75 jarig bestaan - een alfabetische opsomming van de 75 beste gitaristen:
Downbeat February 2009 Volume 76, Number 2
75 Great Guitarists
By Ed Enright
Only five guitarist are currently in the DownBeat Hall of Fame-Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. A small list, but one that shows the wide-ranging influence that the guitar has had on music since it made its way into jazz in the 1920s.
In the first in a series of articles to celebrate DownBeat's 75th anniversary, we shine the spotlight on 75 of the all-time great jazz, blues and beyond guitarists who have graced the pages of the magazine. We talked to a number of the living masters, and combed our archives for quotes and background information on the artists who have given the most popular instrument in the world a place in DownBeat.
The 75 guitarists featured are:
a.. Al Di Meola
b.. Albert King
c.. Ali Farka Touré
d.. Allan Holdsworth
e.. B.B. King
f.. Barney Kessel
g.. Ben Monder
h.. Bill Frisell
i.. Billy Bauer
j.. Bireli Lagrene
k.. Bucky Pizzarelli
l.. Buddy Guy
m.. Carl Kress
n.. Charlie Byrd
o.. Charlie Christian
p.. Charlie Hunter
q.. Chet Atkins
r.. Derek Bailey
s.. Django Reinhardt
t.. Earl Klugh
u.. Eddie Condon
v.. Eddie Durham
w.. Eddie Lang
x.. Frank Gambale
y.. Frank Zappa
z.. Freddie Green
aa.. George Benson
ab.. George Van Eps
ac.. Grant Green
ad.. Herb Ellis
ae.. Howard Alden
af.. James Blood Ulmer
ag.. Jeff Beck
ah.. Jim Hall
ai.. Jimi Hendrix
aj.. Jimmy Bruno
ak.. Jimmy Raney
al.. João Gilberto
am.. Joe Pass
an.. John Abercrombie
ao.. John Lee Hooker
ap.. John McLaughlin
aq.. John Scofield
ar.. Johnny Smith
as.. Kenny Burrell
at.. Kurt Rosenwinkel
au.. Larry Carlton
av.. Larry Coryell
aw.. Lee Ritenour
ax.. Les Paul
ay.. Lionel Loueke
az.. Lonnie Johnson
ba.. Marc Ribot
bb.. Martin Taylor
bc.. Mike Stern
bd.. Muddy Waters
be.. Nels Cline
bf.. Oscar Moore
bg.. Paco de Lucia
bh.. Pat Martino
bi.. Pat Metheny
bj.. Peter Bernstein
bk.. Ralph Towner
bl.. Robert Johnson
bm.. Russell Malone
bn.. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
bo.. Sonny Sharrock
bp.. Stanley Jordan
bq.. Steve Cropper
br.. T-Bone Walker
bs.. Tal Farlow
bt.. Terje Rypdal
bu.. Tiny Grimes
bv.. Vernon Reid
bw.. Wes Montgomery