Bonham -- You have to believe that somewhere Charlie Christian threw back his head and laughed Thursday night as soon as the first string of notes came flying out of Phil Cristino's guitar.
Legendary jazz guitarist Charles Henry Christian was born July 29, 1916 in Bonham, at the age of 23 had earned a place in the Benny Goodman Sextet, and was buried in Bonham's Gates Hill Cemetery in the spring of 1942. Gone at only 25, Christian still managed to leave an indelible mark on music and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Since you can't have Charlie Christian take the stage for a late-night jam session anymore, Fannin County is fortunate to have the next best thing. It is unlikely you could find anyone else in the country with the particular skillset of Leonard, Texas native Phil Cristino. A lifelong jazz fan, Charlie Christian historian and lightning-quick guitarist, Cristino can tell the story of the evolution of the lead guitar with facts -- which is impressive enough -- but then he offers a unique perspective by demonstrating how each bit of history affected the progression from swing to early jazz to bebop to the cool jazz of Miles Davis.
While far too many people in Bonham seem to overlook the brilliance of one of their own, to a knowledgeable jazzman like Cristino, Charlie Christian "set the world on its ear."
And once an innovative Christian got his hands on a Gibson ES150, recognized as the world's first commercially successful Spanish-style electric guitar, a sound was born.
"The sound it had was jazzy...that smooth sound," Cristino said of Christian playing the new guitar. "Charlie Christian gave us the voice of the guitar."
Once relegated to the rhythm section on the back of the stage, guitars now had a place out front with the piano and horns.
"It was a viable instrument," stated Cristino.
