Christian, Charlie (Charles Henry Christian), 1916–42, African-American jazz guitarist, b. Bonham, Tex. The son of a singer-guitarist father and pianist mother, he grew up in Oklahoma City, where he began playing professionally at 15. By 1937, Christian had begun to play an electrically amplified guitar, and he soon transformed it into a staple of the jazz ensemble, elevating it from a largely rhythm-section role into a full-fledged solo instrument. In 1939 he jammed with Benny Goodman Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909–86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and eventually to play beside) some of the outstanding jazz
..... Click the link for more information. , who hired him on the spot; as a member of the Goodman Sextet he soon became one of America's best-known jazz guitarists. An inventive improviser, Christian had a uniquely clean, fluid sound, produced in hornlike solos often played on a single string. Essentially a swing player, he also was one of the pioneers of bop, experimenting with the form in legendary sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem. In 1941 Christian contracted tuberculosis and the following year he died, leaving some 100 recordings and ending a brief but brilliant career at age 25.

Bibliography

See biography by P. Broadbent (1996); G. D. Rhodes, dir., Solo Flight (video documentary, 1997).

Christian, Charlie

orig. Charles Christian

(born July 29, 1916, Bonham, Texas, U.S.—died March 2, 1942, New York, N.Y.) U.S. guitarist. Christian grew up in Oklahoma City, Okla., and joined Benny Goodman to perform in both big-band and small-group settings in 1939. He created a sensation through his technically adept and innovative use of amplification, thus changing the guitar's primary role from accompanist to soloist. He was the first great electric guitarist in jazz. As one of the most advanced and influential soloists of the swing era, Christian participated in the jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem with Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie that pioneered the harmonic advances of bebop.

Christian, Charlie (Charles) (1919–42) jazz musician; born in Dallas, Texas. He was a pioneering and influential electric guitarist and modern jazz innovator who played with Benny Goodman from 1938 until his death from tuberculosis.