Another essay from a new book

Jimmy Wyble

Sorry for the delay. I was on tour, then catching up. Here’s another essay from the new book, Pity the Genius. It looks like it will be released on Cymbal Press in the Spring. Styled, a t least a little, on Dylan’s recent effort The Philosophy of Modern Song.

Jimmy Wyble: Roly Poly (The Essential Bob Wills)

Jimmy Wyble played jazz guitar in the 50’s as well as anyone, played country too, and was employed by Benny Goodman, Red Norvo, and Bob Wills, three of the most famous musicians of the era. He had plenty of the classical savvy Jim Hall cultivated, and to this day there is no one who plays contrapuntally like he did, two independent lines operating simultaneously. Jimmy turned away from the touring life early on and made the decision to take a steady job playing TV shows in LA. He didn’t gig much or release much of his own music. I heard once that Jimmy had a drinking problem that needed tending too. Certainly that can keep a person close to home.

Jimmy wrote a series of guitar etudes that are brief, stunningly original snapshots in jazz counterpoint, spicy with dissonance, a hint of Bartok’s Mikrokosmos in them. They convincingly blend classical harmonies and techniques with jazz harmony and all but went out of print until the last decade. Playing two independent lines on guitar is very difficult, and to my knowledge he was the first to strictly and strongly focus in that direction. He performed some of these pieces, and then improvised on them, on a trio record from 1977 (Jimmy Wyble— classical-jazz). You can’t find it anywhere. You mostly hear him on record as a sideman.

The etudes are unique in guitar literature. But the track that most thrills me from Jimmy is the solo he takes on Bob Wills Roly Poly (as unwoke a song as you can find) The etudes are mostly for guitarists. This music is for everyone. All his lines in this brief masterpiece are connected, they feel composed, and yet free, they follow on one another. His feel is joyful, swinging with just enough hillbilly flavor in it to let you know he could do just fine playing with Mel Tillis. You can sing it and want to when you hear it. His virtuosity is casual, but obvious. Jimmy had taste, he wasn’t showy, though if you hear him with vibraphonist Red Norvo, who played super-fast tempos, you know this fellow could tear it up. You can see why he got hired by the important band leaders. He was always playing the right thing, content to live on the sidelines, supporting the cause.

The way that Bob Wills band works amazes me more with each passing year, some of the happiest music anywhere, even when it’s sad. It was essentially a country foundation with walls made from jazz big bands. It’s one of the first two guitar bands, and to hear Eldon Shamblin and Jimmy harmonize is pure delight. Anyone who still believes that country music isn’t woven into the fabric of jazz history is hiding under a rock. Charlie Parker loved country. Many of the formative players from KC, New Orleans, Oklahoma did too. Jimmy Wyble didn’t need to think about melding styles, he just did it. He considered Charlie Christian his guide star. I sure wish the two of them could have done some duets.

What could a guitar player be in the late 40’s, early 50’s? A Bluesman, a country slinger, a Folkie. Jazz on guitar was brand new. Charlie Christian swung the door wide. But there were only a few people who stepped through initially, Billy Bauer, Barry Galbraith, Tal Farlow, Johnny Smith. The whole navigation system on the instrument was made new in those times. Now it’s all systemized, it’s in books and classes worldwide. Jimmy was one of those singular, solitary figures who built the language of jazz guitar early on to little fanfare.

I studied with Jimmy for two years in LA. Mild-mannered, bespectacled, as gentle a human being as one could find, Jimmy tried to get some shape in my playing. I knew little about jazz, less about country, quite a bit about rock, and thought I might be a cosmic singer-songwriter with a “jazz influence.” Yikes. He patiently encouraged me to learn Charlie Christian licks, tried to get me to read better, and supported my roots as a classical player. He was friendly, soft-spoken. Christ almighty it wasn’t til decades later I learned he played with Bob Wills! Did I even know who Bob Wills was? When I think of what I could have learned…

This sensitive soul wasn’t built for a life on the road. And so he became one of those unheralded musicians who work for a salary behind the scenes and get to sleep in their own bed every night. I can still see him smiling as I walked into his Glendale studio, graying hair, slightly stooped, playing a big box Gibson. Do any of us understand how we find each other in life? He had what I needed, and I took as much as I could and left way more on the table.