I spent some of the best years of my life in Toronto, 411 Duplex Ave, in the 70’s. But for some strange reason never heard of Ed until much later, even though I was a jazz guitar fan. Bought my Gibson 355 on Yonge Street and took lessons from the staff guitarist for The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, who lived on Wilson Avenue, though I can no longer recall his name. Ed is a marvelous player, equally capable in a trio or a Big Band setting, I wish I had met him back then.

My understanding is the death of his wife and arthritis caused him to stop playing

Thanks for sharing, Ed Bickert will be missed.

@@glevumguy7850 are you thinking of Tony Braden by any chance?

That’s really a really beautiful story.

Ed has the kind of effortless coolness that reminds me of Lester Young. They just stand (or sit) there and spin out the most hummable, catchy, creative licks, and never sound indulgent.

everyone is different, but bickert are and hall are similar enough that its tempting to compare them... i believe it

I find Jim Hall and Ed Bickert's to be quite different. The tone, the time feel, the attack, the chord voicing are all different. I'd never mistake the two

Wish we had more of mr Bicket to listen to ,he was marvelous

@@icecreamforcrowhurst i agree. They are entirely different.

Hall recommended Bickert to Desmond.

Agreed. Huge tone and sophisticated harmony/time.

Ed's great but don't forget Barney Kessel.

Bickert's playing is so tasteful; I've listened to all his stuff but I've never heard him overplay a tune or get too "note-y." He was a master of understatement. His melodic lines were so fluid. I find it really interesting that his right hand technique is very similar to Jim Hall's in the way he positions his hand and holds the pick. I also love that he played a Fender Telecaster (my fave electric guitar) instead of a big hollow jazz box. He proves that you can play any kind of music on a Telecaster. I read somewhere that he switched to the Telecaster because they are famously sturdy and tough; they'll stand up to the abuse of the road a lot better than a hollowbody. He was totally not a gearhead and except for the neck humbucker, which a luthier added at his request, the guitar looks stock. It's kind of endearing how he has the hex wrench for the intonation adjustment scotch taped to the pickguard and had a spare pick taped to the back of the guitar under the neckplate with masking tape...

@@danielstoddart His wife apparently bought him a nice padded gig bag for the Telecaster at some point, and he returned it to the guitar shop because he couldn't fold it up and tuck it into the back of his amp like he did with the crummy vinyl bag she was trying to upgrade. The man was a complete pragmatist! Ironically, 99% of his gigs were in the greater Toronto areas, and he only occasionally did tours involving airplanes and so forth, so he could have continued playing the ES-175 he used in the 1960s without too much hassle, but he did prize a guitar he could leave in the car trunk when it was cold, and haul around in a lightweight bag. I think at some level he must have also just fallen in love with the ease of play and sustain of the Telecaster, both of which he used to maximum advantage. He did gripe to an interviewer once that it didn't sound as lush as a traditional jazz box, but he used it on every single studio recording he released under his own name, so I assume he wasn't too serious about his complaint. You can read a couple of interviews with him talking about music and guitars in this .pdf: drive.google.com/file/d/1d1DnS18xqJet9rksNvRodIYrKLA43dL4/view

Always kudos to Don, but he has nothing to do with this event. Dave Young is the bassist, Terry Clarke is on drums.

I new ED. quite well , in fact he gave me many gigs at the CFTO. Television station in Toronto

Wow I'm sure you're not upset about the neighbors "playing music too loudly" haha

hahahaha100% true!

Sure hope he knows how well loved he is....media hype is not an accurate barometer. A genuine jazz guitar foundation stone.

You are VERY lucky. Can you ask him how to get his cds? It's nearly impossible unless you want to pay a high tariff.

Does Ed still play? Do you ever hear him playing from his house?

Nice adjective, "juicy". That, and "tasty" were my father's descriptive words of approval.

@@eastonpeter1242 there are enough 'lesson' here to keep me busy through the winter.

Not to mention he was mainly using roundwound .010's and .011's with his Tele