Jimmy Gourley - The Cool Guitar of Jimmy Gourley. Quartet & Trio Sessions 1953-1961 (2021)

Many American musicians visited France after la Liberation, some famous, some not so famous. But, curiously, the guitar as an instrument was always poorly represented, with John Collins’ brief stay in May 1948 as the only noteworthy example. Jimmy Gourley became the first prominent guitarist to visit the country in the early 1950s, a time when Django Reinhardt was still the benchmark for jazz guitar in Europe. His arrival in April 1951 was significant because with him, the guitarist brought to Paris the modern cool style that Jimmy Raney had been developing in the States, a new school directly inspired by Charlie Christian and Lester Young. With his guitar, Gourley introduced the Parisian scene to the relaxed, vibrato-less tone and subdued harmonies that modern cool jazz musicians favored. There is little doubt that had Jimmy remained in the United States, he would have become one of the finest jazz guitarists in America.