I was chatting this morning with Tom, a member of the Yahoo Jazz Guitar group, about the Cal Collins video I put up on YouTube. During the chat, Tom mentioned a pioneering Swing/Pedal Steel Guitarist by the name of Alvino Rey? I had never heard of Alvino before but apparently he was extremely popular in the 30’s and 40’s and was voted “Best Guitarist” in a LIFE magazine poll.

Tom, having known Alvino in his later years, went on to tell me that Alvino was “…one of the first pedal-steel guitarists, helped invent the instrument, used it in big-band arrangements! And though Les Paul is often credited for his pioneering work in developing the electric guitar, and justifiably, Alvino also had some input. He was the staff guitarist for NBC radio in NYC from 1928 into the 1930s, later was a studio musician at Capitol Records with Barney Kessel, Jack Marshall and others.” In fact Alvino and Barney continued to be friends with Alvino calling Barney nearly every week throughout Barney’s illness.

Tom was also nice enough to forward me a link to a page on Alvino on the www.bigbandlibrary.com site. The article credits Alvino for amplifying his pedal steel guitar with an “…off-stage vocal microphone plugged into it with a Sonovox (making) it seem as though the guitar could ‘talk‘”. Alvino also “…built his first radio at the age of 8 and, within a few years, became one of the youngest licensed ham operators in the country.” Very cool…another Les Paul. Alvino also, at 15 years of age “…invented an electrical amplifier for the guitar, but didn’t have it patented. He did patent several later improvements.” I wonder what kind of amplifier improvements did he make and for which brand. Wow! Alvino sounds like quite an interesting individual and I’m glad to have been “introduced” to him by Tom. Thanks Tom…:)

If anyone else has any information they would like to share regarding Alvino Rey please leave a comment. Happy listening.

Swing And Big Band Guitar (Four-To-The-Bar Comping In The Style Of Freddie Green) Written by Charlton Johnson. Instructional book and examples CD for guitar. 80 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.695147) See more info…