How To Comp Like Ed Bickert

FULL ARTICLE ON JAZZGUITARTODAY!

Ed Bickert is one of the finest guitarists to ever live! His unique chordal approach sets him apart, especially having played entirely on a Telecaster. In this video I talk about 3 things that make his comping so effective and perfect. Using 3 examples from the record "Trio Sketches" we dive into his melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic approaches. For a full PDF contact me at

0:00 - Intro

6:23 - Example #1 "Long Ago And Far Away"

10:22 - Example #2 "Can't We Be Friends"

21:45 - Example #3 "Ornithardy"

[temp]

I’m 81. Been an Ed Bickertt fan since forever but never could figure out his magic. Now suddenly I find you nailing it up for all to learn and enjoy. Thank you so much for this post. I have subscribed and look forward to seeing what other magic tricks you are offering.
John Paiva aka Snugg Fitt

[erniemee]

Ed was loved by all who knew him, as a person and a musician. In my much younger years we sometimes on our lunch hour would pull up in front of his house and eat our lunch while listening to him practise.

[mistervox]

Cool man, you are very humble. I appreciate that. It's not common these days.

[artdevilliers]

YOU have the finger stretch to show what Ed did by ear, & the ability to hear close voicings, then look & find same on the guitar... good on you.
I first met Ed (& Madelene) at "The House of Hamburg" with the Norm Amadio Quartet 1957. I was 19, he 24, me, an aspiring Jazz player coming out of Timmins, (also the home of Amadio). When I heard Ed's (alred0) personal) approach (with a bit of Kessel, Farlow & Rainey thrown in), I was startled.
Later, he curiously called me for a Jam at the house I was sharing with some Aussies. I had Bill Evans "Come rain or come shine" down good chordally on my guitar. I played it for him, he said "you missded oine" & joke? No, he showed me. He was a step ahead... & that step kept growing over a short time. I ended up putting him ahedd of the other greats, in influence. He callede me often to sub for him, some CBC-TV, once with Moe Kaufman (Spaghetti House"), or with ..Phil Nimmons Big Band (in St. Jojn's N.B.) Music Union evening.
I had dinner at Ed's house twice in the 60s, & met Jim Hall there in early 70s (after returing from overseas). In my opinion, if Ed had moved to L.A. or N.Y., he would have become (in a short time), the favourit chouce for everyone. Amen.

[lwdp]

Being from Ed’s area I had the good fortune to listen to him play often. I remember hearing him play with an excellent pianist on a Steinway grand. For the first set it seemed like his modest six strings couldn’t match it’s harmonic bloom but when the second set started Ed’s music just became magic. At first I thought he’d increased the volume but I now think his system was just warming up. I found that it was always his second set when the harmonic bloom set in. Maybe it was my ears that warmed up? All I know how sure was that he made something beautiful happen every time I heard him play. He was as you said a quiet laid back gentleman and I feel his loss every time I see a guitar. Thank you Ed for sharing this gift.

[jimdixon]

A real treasure trove of Bickert's playing was released last year, the Paul Desmond 7-CD "Complete 1975 Live Recordings" on Mosaic. Ed's on 6 of the 7 CDs, and about half of the material has never been released (while the other half show up on the Telarc, A&M, and Artists House labels, but with boxy sounding mixes that the Mosaic set blows out of the water). It's a limited edition, so if you love Ed, don't wait around. The point about melody in the comping made here at 3:27 is perfectly illustrated throughout the Desmond set. It's similar to the way that Gerry Mulligan wove counter melodies under other horn players like Chet Baker and Paul Desmond on albums from the 1950s and 60s.

Ed is also giving a masterclass in comping on the Frank Rosolino album "Thinking of You" (recorded, again, live in Toronto, just like the Desmond stuff, with the amazing Don Thompson on bass, and Terry Clarke on drums, with no piano to get in the way of Ed). I'll mention two more essential Bickert sessions that aren't well known, but have great comping (again, no piano--smart producers / promoters knew that with Ed, you never needed a piano as well), "Ruby Braff with the Ed Bickert Trio" and "The Ballad Artistry of Buddy Tate"--both, again featuring Toronto's finest (Don Thompson & Terry Clarke).

[jgx]

Thanks for great lesson. Wasn’t hip to this Mt Olympus player until now

[jessemolins]

Very cool lesson. What a genius Ed was. Thanks for the very clear explanation and breakdown

[trevormckinnon]

Ed was an inspiring and truly one-of-a-kind musician. His beautiful, warm sound on guitar was not unlike Bill Evans' on piano. And Ed achieved that without finger-stretching chordal gymnastics as is evident in any videos of him playing. I think he discovered a polyrhythmic approach between chord and melody that elicited a strong overtone response on his guitar. So that a 2, 3, 4 or 5 single note melodic phrase is firstly picked. Then it has a reincarnation as an echo produced by an overtone of a sympathetically-vibrating chord that immediately proceeds and harmonically and rhythmically supports that phrase. This may explain how he gets such a big, rich, close-voicing sound with just easy 3 or 4 note jazz guitar chord fingerings. And his chords in turn enhance the tone of further single notes passages he undertakes and so forth. But returning to my previous, and some would say apples and oranges, comparison, I much preferred Ed's trio to Bill's. I could easily tap my foot and joyfully feel the groove listening to the Ed Bickert Trio. Whilst with the Bill Evans Trio, the groove is lost to over-complex, disjointed bass, drum and piano interplay. This I think just shows Ed Bickert's more balanced approach to music making. How wonderful that a 'mere' guitarist could have a jazz trio that is at the very least equal to the very best piano trios.

[donmilland]

Incredible sound from that Eastman semi. I have an AR805ce and El Rey ER4. With an Evans RE200 . . . sounds even more incredible!

[MyJB]

Great summary. There are many transcriptions of Ed's work done by Pedro Bellora (Agentina) and Francois Leduc (Canada), but I am not aware of a consolidated book on his unique musical style and life. A beatup Telecaster and chewing gum added to his aura and low key personality "under the radar". Thank you for highlighting him. Best wishes from Canada.

[michaelbartlett]

Ed was the Bill Evans of guitar. So easy to get lost in the musicality and beauty of his phrasing, the complexity and density of his harmonic approach becomes mind boggling (to me) when dissecting. Great job in this video. Your method of teaching helped me get a better grasp on some of Ed’s devices and thinking.

[MikeYousman]

Beautiful lesson and demonstration! Your love for the music shines!

[MyJB]

Zakk, thanks a million for a crisp informative summary of Ed's genius. I watched the entire video now and "took notes". Very useful transcriptions from only a few passages, but months of practice lying ahead to get those voicings and melodic comping ideas/rhythms under my fingers. I am a chord diagram nut - using the fretboard grid as my internal GPS coordinate system. BTW - Aebersold is in process of publishing chord diagrams as a companion to the Barry Galbraith Comping Book (without TABs). Watch out for it in the new year (2022). It took two of us months of plotting 7, 000 dots onto 1800 voicings, with careful cross-checking (not the hockey type). Barry and Ed are top of my hero list. Not flashy players but extremely musical.

[doubleuseven]

Awesome presentation and easy to follow.

[SPGGuitar]

My favorite player! I have a wonderful clone of his tele that Kraig Phillips made for me. I Wished on the Moon.

[davidsummerville]

Great lesson and very solid information. No one sounds like him. One of the influences that really touched me the most. Thanks

[rickwashbrook]

Awesome harmony lessons and chord melody I was searching Ed Bickert and Lorne Lofsky and then I found you. Never found a video on Ed so detailed I want to take lessons from you and get new ideas. Thank you so much and happy Christmas

[BlaydonAces]

Excellent lesson and lovely playing to demo the examples. Let's you see how great Bickert was.

[avantagonist]

This was super refreshing, it's advanced playing that isn't too hard! Plus a nice mix of common voicings and fancy ones. It's like a guy in a suit - playing a telecaster lol