Charlie Christian

Although he was not the first to make use of the electric guitar, Dallas, TX-born Charlie Christian's dazzling single-note style unshackled the instrument from the rhythm section, and his feats of melodic daring blazed early trails into bebop. In his short life he managed to dramatically alter the course of jazz and popular music. He's best known for his work Benny Goodman and his solo sides, but in the early 1930s he worked with a variety of "territory" bands, where he formulated his revolutionary approach. A victim of his own chaotic lifestyle, Christian passed away in 1942 at the age of 25.