Charlie Christian was born on July 29, 1916 in Bonham, Texas, but grew up in Oklahoma City. His father was a singer / guitarist, his mom was a pianist, and they played in the Dallas cinema when he was young. His 2 concerns were also musicians. Christians began his musical career on the trumpet, but due to a significant chest condition he switched to guitar when he was 12 years old. He also had some idea of bass and piano. After the family relocated to Oklahoma City in 1921, the senior Christian lost his sight. To make a living, he ended up being a street artist accompanied by his three children, Clarence on a violin and a mandolin, Edward on string bass and Charlie on a guitar.
In the early 1930s, Charlie Christian played guitar in the band of Edward's brother Jolly Jugglers. He first gained wider recognition for his apparent mastery in 1937, when he signed with the Anne Mae Winburn Orchestra. He then played the Alfonso Trent Sextet in 1938. The Christian was fascinated by the electric amplified guitar when he saw Eddie Durham, who was playing an early variation of an electric instrument. Christian decided to explore electric amplified guitar. Soon he mastered what was then a completely new instrument.
His reputation for electrically enhanced guitar grew very quickly, and jazz enthusiasts came everywhere to hear his new and innovative guitar style. His reinforced single-note strings sometimes sounded like a tenor saxophone. Christians began to introduce numerous innovative ideas into their jazz improvisations. He used enlarged and diminished chords in such a way that in the not too distant future he would change the world of jazz. His ideas were extremely individualistic, and he was a big fan of Django Reinhardt's guitar approach. He liked to play improvised Reinhardt choirs, a note to the note, by numbers such as St. Louis Blues, and then include some of his own improvised choirs.
In 1939, playing with The Leslie Sheffield Band, he was heard by influential jazz promoter John Hammond. He was truly inspired by pianist Mai Lou Williams to go to Oklahoma City to hear Charlie Christian. Hammond was so amazed that he called his son-in-law, group leader Benny Goodman, to hear Christian. Goodman initially did not want to listen to the young guitarist, but eventually agreed to give him an audition on August 16, 1939 in Los Angeles. It only took him a couple of bars of Charlie Christian, a solo on The Pink Room, for a fantastic clarinet player to recognize the young guitarist's remarkable ability. Christian was hired on the spot.
During the two years that followed Charlie Christian, the main influence was not only in The Big Band Band and Sextet Benny Goodman, but also in the history of jazz. After playing at night with Goodman's group, Christian continued to play in the early hours of the morning at the Minton jazz club in Harlem. Here he played for hours on end, his creative improvisations directly influenced other jazz musicians who visited the club, including Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Joe Guy and others. Fortunately, several of these historical jam sessions were recorded on tapes for the descendants of Jerry Newman.
Tragically late nights and Christian's love of nightlife in New York did not help his health. He actually experienced poor health throughout his life. In the spring of 1940, he was tested at a medical facility, where a medical diagnosis showed that he had a consumption. Despite the warnings of medical professionals, he was not able to properly take care of his health. In July 1941, he suffered a major relapse and went to a sanatorium on the sea on Staten Island. He died there in March 1942.
