The role of guitar in Jazz confuses the hell out of me. I'm not entirely sure that in a lot of live arrangements of songs, where you have 9 to 12 instruments, how the guitar factors in.
As forums go, god forbid you ask something without looking it up first so heres what the Wiki had to say...
Quote:
Chord-melody and unaccompanied soloing
In this style, the guitarist aims to render an entire song — harmony, melody and bass — in something like the way a classical guitarist or pianist can. Chord roots play an important role in this style; however, chords themselves can be used sparsely or more densely, depending on both the individual player and his or her arrangement of a particular piece. An added bass line can also be sparse, or used more densely and rhythmically as is found in ragtime guitar as well as more straight-ahead jazz styles. Chord-melody is often played with a plectrum (see Tal Farlow, George Benson and others); however fingerstyle, as practised by Joe Pass, George van Eps, Martin Taylor, Ted Greene, Lenny Breau or hybrid picking as practised by Ed Bickert and others allows for a more complex, polyphonic approach to unaccompanied soloing.
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I get the concept, I'm just not sure I hear the sound. I was thinking this as I watched Sting play guitar on the Haiti performance if you're wondering where I'm coming from.