Among all the great blues guitarists, Buddy Guy holds the crown as the most expressive when it comes to playing solos with rhythmic variety. In particular, he’s got an uncanny knack of drifting away from the band’s time, particularly in a slow blues, where there’s more space to play with. Clipped notes, sustained vibrato notes, quick-fire note bursts, accelerating repetitive licks and moments of silence: these and more have become his beloved rhythmic trademarks for blues soloing.
One of my favorite eras of Buddy’s is the mid-to-late ’60s, and this encompasses albums such as I Left My Blues in San Francisco (1967), and A Man and the Blues (1968), as well as his incredible work with Junior Wells. There’s something special about this period, where his playing was cleaner, and yet more raw-sounding. He was considerably ahead of his time.
