Les Paul : NPR

The Man Before The Guitar: Remembering Les Paul At 100

Les Paul's career as a guitarist and innovator led him to play jazz, pop and country with other legendary musicians for decades. Courtesy of the Les Paul Foundation hide caption

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Courtesy of the Les Paul Foundation

Music News

The Man Before The Guitar: Remembering Les Paul At 100

June 9, 2015 • Paul is mostly remembered for his musical innovations, especially the instrument that bears his name. But he was also an accomplished jazz musician who kept performing even in his final years.

The Man Before The Guitar: Remembering Les Paul At 100

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Amy Sussman/Getty Images Entertainment

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Les Paul On Piano Jazz

July 3, 2014 • The guitar legend made a rare appearance on Piano Jazz in 1999, bringing with him his trio — Lou Paulo on guitar and Paul Nowinski on bass.

Listen: Les Paul On Piano Jazz

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Charlie Christian was a forerunner in establishing the musical language of bebop. Greg Murray hide caption

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Greg Murray

Take Five: By Instrument

Five Pioneers Of Electric Jazz Guitar

Jazz24

January 15, 2013 • Prior to the advent of electrical amplification, the role of the guitar in jazz was strictly that of a chorded rhythm instrument. But as soon as guitarists could plug into an amplifier, the electric guitar started making its presence felt as an improvisational voice in jazz. Every guitarist now playing owes something to at least one of these pioneering jazz guitarists.

Music Interviews

Remembering Guitar Legend Les Paul

August 13, 2009 • Guitarist and innovator Les Paul has died at the age of 94. We'll remember how he pioneered multi-track recording and popularized the solid-body electric guitar. His contributions changed the course of rock 'n' roll music.

Remembering Guitar Legend Les Paul

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Music Interviews

Les Paul Still 'Chasing Sound' at 92

August 19, 2007 • Earlier this summer, guitarist Les Paul celebrated his 92nd birthday. At an age when other musicians may be content to relax and collect an occasional royalty check, Paul still works. In a new PBS documentary, Les Paul: Chasing Sound, he tells his remarkable life story.

Les Paul Still 'Chasing Sound' at 92

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Music Interviews

Musician and Inventor Les Paul

Fresh Air

June 10, 2005 • He turned 90 years old on June 8, and he is still performing and recording. He's collaborated with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Sting — among others — on a new album to be released later this summer.

Musician and Inventor Les Paul

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Music Interviews

Les Paul, Still Strumming on the Cusp of 90

June 4, 2005 • Guitar legend Les Paul is about to turn 90 and still going strong. He plays weekly at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, and he has a string of new albums coming out. Tom Vitale visits with Paul in New York.

Les Paul, Still Strumming on the Cusp of 90

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Music Interviews

Les Paul: Guitarist And Inventor

Fresh Air

June 9, 1995 • Guitarist Les Paul's 80th birthday is celebrated by featuring our 1992 interview with him. Les Paul has spent his life playing guitar, inventing guitars to play, and inventing devices to record himself on. He's often been called the "Thomas Edison of music."

Les Paul: Guitarist And Inventor

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Guitar Legend And Innovator Les Paul Dies

Les Paul performs live at the Winter Garden on May 27, 1992. David Corio/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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David Corio/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images

Music News

Guitar Legend And Innovator Les Paul Dies

August 13, 2009 • The guitarist and inventor who helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording died of complications from pneumonia Thursday at a hospital in White Plains, N.Y. He was 94.

Guitar Legend And Innovator Les Paul Dies

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Jimmy Katz

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Blue Note Classics In Black And White

September 14, 2009 • Blue Note Records is a record label for which the visuals carry almost as much artistic cachet as the music. The label's covers tend to employ generous amounts of white space, splashes of color, prominent shading and themes evoking introspection and celebration. All of that frequently translates to the music inside.

Jeff Beck performs at Les Paul's 95th-birthday party at Iridium Jazz Club on June 9, 2010, in New York City.

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Larry Busacca/Getty Images

World Cafe

World Cafe Looks Back: Guitar Greats

XPN

January 16, 2012 • World Cafe celebrates some legendary guitar innovators by sharing past interviews with Les Paul, Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck.

World Cafe Looks Back: Guitar Greats

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Norman Granz at his office in July 1987.

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Tad Hershorn/Courtesy of the artist

A Blog Supreme

The Man Who Used Jazz For Justice

October 20, 2011 • The jazz producer put artists like Ella Fitzgerald into concert halls while striking a blow for civil rights.