Jim Hall: Piece for Guitar & Strings

Jim Hall's pre-1960 written output had been, as was the guitarist himself, modest. Hall the composer came out of left fieldor, at least, out of Cleveland, where he matriculated at the Institute of Music. His bluesy playing is no surprise, since that was always Hall's forte. Nor is it unexpected that he incorporates folk jazz, which he'd explored as Jimmy Giuffre's sideman. What's revelatory about Hall's Opus #1 is his uncanny writing for strings, rendering those hoary Stradivari tinderboxes as funky as fiddles at a hoedown. Like the MJQ's "England's Carol," this proves Third Stream can be fun.