Anyway you can check him out:
http://yellowdogrecords.com/calvinnewborn/

I know some jazz guitar players who are critical of Herb because he is more focused on single-string than most, and the jazz guitar mainstream is really into the chord melody thing. He approaches it more like a horn player and also has a brighter-than-typical tone. But he just burns it up on this record, to my taste. I hear so many shades of Charlie Christian, but I can usually tell it's Herb right away - he has a distinctive sound. I saw him live several times also - as usual, it's a matter of personal taste.

PS - a cool CD in the same trip - Jack McDuff, "The Honeydripper", with Grant Green on guitar and Jimmy "Night Train" Forrest on tenor, on Prestige, original recording 1961. This is Grant's first major recording. If this ain't "fat, dirty jazz", I don't know what is. I agree on McDuff with George Benson also - McDuff was off my list because most of the stuff I have is later 70s stuff that is not to the same standard, IMO. But the earlier stuff is great. I have an old 45 RPM of McDuff and Benson "Rock Candy" - great.

[This message was edited by Dave Mudgett on 25 July 2006 at 09:20 PM.]

Freddie Green with Count Basie laid down some great rhythm too. His solo disc is cool too.

Danny Gatton was a big fan of Barnes' Country Jazz. The Complete Standard Transcriptions is a fascinating Barnes record that's a bit like Raymond Scott's cartoon music. Barnes led a swinging group of woodwinds and electric guitar on radio in the 40s. This record has things like swinging versions of nursery rhymes with amazing Barnes solos as part of his tight ensemble arrangements.

I've heard the Pass/Ellis records and for my taste, they were like oil & water. Ellis sucked the poetry away from Pass's playing. Just my opinion. Ellis did a record with Charlie Byrd called Guitar Guitar! that surprisingly seemed to work well. Years later, he was one of the founders of the Great Guitars with Kessel & Ellis.

Speaking of Kessel, the three way interplay on the Poll Winners albums bewteen Kessel, Mann, and Brown is near telepathic 'cause they were such good friends but there's also a mid 60s trio record called On Fire with Barney and a pick-up group. His playing is phenomanally exciting - even more so than the classic Poll Winners records. He didn't have a prior relationship with the other players so he just came out of the gate like a fire-breathing racehorse. Last I looked, it was only available on CD from Japan.

Found one dealer here: http://www.ejazzlines.com/c2/BARNEY-KESSEL-ON-FIRE-p44158.html

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 26 July 2006 at 02:01 PM.]

Regarding Andy's feeling on Herb -- I'd love to know what it is that he can't describe because I can't either. I certainly don't fault his talent. It's just that, for me, there's something missing. It's not necessarily the lack of a chordal approach or the tone (though I acknowledge those factors).

Ironically, I got to hear Herb regularly in the 80s when he would often stop by to rehearse or jam with the US Navy's big band jazz ensemble. He and their guitar player were buds and got together for shows or jams frequently. I'd come out of my rehearsal room across the hall and they'd be tearing it up. Herb fit in well with those guys for some reason and I enjoyed every minute of it. Probably because compared to the Top 40 country junk food I was playing at the time it was filet mignon. But then I'd hear him with the Great Guitars at Charlie's club in Annapolis and... the emptiness was back.

All of which is not to disparage Herb or those who love his playing. As with Andy, I can't describe why it doesn't do much for me and I wish I knew why.

For instance, they have recently added just about all of Barney Kessel's old recordings (one of my primary influences.)

Downloads for recording cost 69 cents each, but with my DSL, I can get to everything without putting it on my hard drive so I just go use it as is.

My son, a jazz accordion and keyboard player, stays up after I go to bed and plays stuff on the headphones.

When I started seriously studying Dobro, their dobro list was really a big help.

Worth a look -- I think they have a trial subscription.
http://www.rhapsody.com