Wes Montgomery Quotes

"I don't know whether it was his [Charlie Christian's] melodic lines, his sound or his approach, but I hadn't heard anything like that before. He sounded so good and it sounded so easy, so I bought me a guitar and an amplifier and said now I can't do nothing but play! Really, welding was my talent, I think, but I sort of swished it aside." - Wes Montgomery

Barney Kessel Quotes

"Charlie Christian showed me a lot, and was a great help, but even then, I realised that if I was going to make it, it was no use copying Charlie." - Barney Kessel

B.B. King Quotes

"Charlie Christian had no more impact on my playing than Django Reinhardt or Lonnie Johnson. I just wanted to play like him. I wanted to play like all of them. All of these people were important to me. I couldn't play like any of them, though ..." - B.B. King

Musicians and music lovers to honor Oklahoma City’s jazz history and local pioneer Charlie Christian

Now through Sunday, the 25th Annual Charlie Christian International Music Festival will celebrate both the legacy of the legendary, innovative jazz guitarist for which the event is named, and the ongoing vibrancy of the present-day Oklahoma City music scene.

With events scheduled in both Oklahoma City and Edmond, the festival kicked off yesterday at Douglass High School with a new event: a free musical “sampler” that spanned gospel, classical, jazz and blues.

“We’ve got it all this year,” said Anita Arnold, executive director of Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc., the festival’s primary backer. “We’re trying to make it as great as we can since it’s the 25th anniversary.”

This year’s headliners include smooth-jazz saxophonists Najee and Eldredge Jackson on...

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http://www.okgazette.com/p/12853/a/6412/