Biography of Eddie Lang

If you struggled to learn to play jazz or pop music on guitar in the 20s or early 30s, Eddie Lang was the man you listened to. Lang was an exciting, propulsive rhythm player and a superb, imaginative accompanist with a knowledge of the fingerboard that was unheard of at that time. As a soloist, he was the first to express the era's harmonic and melodic vocabulary on the guitar. During his brief career, Lang recorded with countless vocalists, dance bands, and small jazz combos. He is prominent on many recordings by Bing Crosby, the Boswell Sisters, Red Nichols, and with the Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman bands. His most celebrated recordings are his collaborations with violinist Joe Venuti, and a small number of band dates with Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer. One should also hear Lang's duets with Lonnie Johnson. Lang's full, pianistic guitar accompaniments provide the perfect foil for the blues guitarist's fluid solo lines. ~ Richard Lieberson