Mundell Lowe’s Accompaniment Style on the Electric Guitar

Abstract

This paper brings information and data about the work of jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe, who has influenced many musicians for over fifty years and is widely recognized for his imaginative and “orchestral-like” method of accompaniment. Mundell Lowe was born on a farm in Laurel, Mississippi, United States, on April 21, 1922, and died on December 2, 2017, he has often been described as a “guitarists' guitarist”. This study provides transcriptions and analysis of his accompaniment (comping) approach on all ten pieces from After Hours, the highly regarded 1961 album by the vocalist Sarah Vaughan. The data analysed in this paper is based on the biographical material and interviews of the guitarist plus transcriptions of the album mentioned - both transcriptions and interviews were done and conducted by the author as part of a doctored research. Lowe's complete accompaniment work is examined in detail and, for on this paper, few samples of his playing on the album were selected and presented for better explanation - the samples are written on traditional music notation. The findings disclose his techniques and tendencies pertaining to chord voicings, harmonic choices, treatment of intros and endings, double-stops, rhythmic devices, reharmonization, as well as several other techniques that embody his stylistic approach. Much of his style can be traced, and so related, to his musical background, his experience as a performer and arranger, and his interest in music styles beyond jazz.