Nicolai Foss
Biographies:
Sideman – The Autobiography of Billy Bauer as told to Thea Luba I haven’t read this one.
Peter Broadbent: Charlie Christian: Solo Flight — the Seminal Electric Guitarist. The definitive (meaning very well-researched book on Charlie). (Don’t mind the silly reviewer comments on Amazon).
Sharony Andrews Green: Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar. Generally OK, but too much in the “neglected-black-genius-made-drug-addict-by-society” vein. Includes an excellent annotated discography.
Jazz guitar history, interviews, etc.:
Charles Alexander: Masters of Jazz Guitar. Excellent. But with perhaps too much emphasis on the last two-three decades and inclusion of players that aren’t jazz guitarists at all (e.g., Steve Vai).
Charles Chapman: Interviews With the Jazz Greats. A strange book. Should have been titled: Interviews with Guitarists who Play 7-String, Benedetto-built Archtops.
Jazz Guitarists — Collected Interviews From Guitar Player Magazine. Lots of classic interviews with the greats.
Norman Mongan: History of the Guitar in Jazz. Nice and comprehensive history. Some transcriptions.
Maurice Summerfield: The Jazz Guitar. Going back almost 30 years to its first edition, this is the classic biography-oriented treatment of the history of jazz guitar playing.
Guitars and Luthiers:
Jim Fisch and L.B. Fred: Epiphone: The House of Stathopoulo. A classic. Unsurpassed. Buy it. But beware: You will lust for an Emperor or Deluxe.
Adrian Ingram: The Gibson L5 — It’s History and It’s Players.
Adrian Ingram: The Gibson ES175 — It’s History and It’s Players. Both Ingram books are very detailed and with beautiful illustrations.
Thomas A. Van Hoose: The Gibson Super 400 – Art of the Fine Guitar. I haven’t read this one.
Robert Benedetto: Making an Archtop Guitar. Here is the blurb: “The definitive work on the design and construction of an acoustic archtop guitar by one of the most respected luthiers of the twentieth century. It iincludes a list of suppliers to acquire all the tools and materials listed and fold-out templates for construction.”
Paul William Schmidt: Acquired of the Angels: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D’Angelico and James L. D’Aquisto. A fine book, but could have been much longer. Not definitive.
Ken Vose: Blue Guitar. The docu of the Scott Chinery blue guitar project. I haven’t seen/read this one.