Chicago and the surrounding region have produced and attracted some of the most influential guitar players in American music, particularly in blues, rock, jazz, and soul. Perhaps the best-known is Buddy Guy, who moved to Chicago in the 1950s and became one of the defining figures of Chicago blues. His fiery playing inspired generations of guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer, while his long-running performances helped make Chicago a global center for electric blues.
Another legendary Chicago guitarist was Terry Kath, a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Widely admired for his innovative blend of rock, jazz, and blues, Kath was praised by fellow musicians for his technical skill, expressive playing, and soulful vocals. Even Jimi Hendrix reportedly considered him one of the greatest guitarists he had ever heard.
Chicago also played a crucial role in the careers of blues pioneers such as Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Jimmy Dawkins, Luther Allison, and Mighty Joe Young. Their distinctive styles helped define the West Side and South Side Chicago blues sound, influencing countless musicians around the world and cementing the city’s reputation as the home of electric blues.
Among rock musicians, Billy Corgan of the The Smashing Pumpkins grew up in the Chicago area and became one of alternative rock’s most recognizable guitarists and songwriters during the 1990s. Soul legend Curtis Mayfield, a Chicago native, was equally influential for his melodic guitar work and innovative songwriting, helping shape soul, funk, and R&B music.
The Chicago metropolitan area continues to produce outstanding guitar talent. Jazz guitarist Fareed Haque has built an international reputation through his work in jazz, fusion, and world music while teaching at regional universities. Contemporary blues guitarist Toronzo Cannon has carried forward the city’s blues tradition with acclaimed recordings and performances, while players such as Joel Paterson have earned national recognition for their versatility in blues, jazz, rockabilly, and country music.
Together, these musicians illustrate Chicago’s remarkable guitar legacy. From pioneering electric blues to classic rock, jazz, soul, and modern Americana, the city and its surrounding suburbs have produced guitarists whose innovations continue to influence musicians around the world.
Guitar Players Tour Information -> PDF files
80 entries so far…
Willie James Abner
Luther Allison
John “Uncle Johnny Williams” Antwine, Jr.
James Kokomo Arnold
Vernon X. “Chico” Bank
John Henry Barbee
Roosevelt Melvin “Booba” Barnes
William “Lefty” Bates
Ollie (Arley) “Buster” Benton
Avery Brady
James Frank Braswell
James “Blind Jim” Brewer
Lonnie “Lee Baker, Jr.” Brooks
William “Big Bill” Broonzy
Andrew Earl Brown
Joseph Judson “Joe” Carter
Echford L. “Lee” Cooper, Jr.
John Curvleski
Eric “Guitar” Davis
Jimmy “Maxwell Street” Davis
James Henry “Jimmy Fast Fingers” Dawkins
John K. Duich
John Embry
Jim Ellison
Leroy “Babyface” Foster
Arvella “Blind Arvella” Gray
Phil Guy
Edward Harrington “Eddie the Chief” Clearwater
Vernon Ray Harrington
Sam Andy “From Louisville” Hill
Earl Zebedee Hooker
Benjamin Joe “Bennie” Houston “Boston Blackie”
Joseph Benjamin “J.B.” Hutto
William Henry “Papa Charlie” Jackson
L.V. Johnson
Willie Lee “Guitar” Johnson
Floyd Jones
Moody Jones
Robert L. “Bobby” King
Kanika Kress
William James Lacey
Samuel David “Sammy” Lanhorn
Warren George Harding Lee “Lee Jackson”
Johnie Lewis
Vardamon “VMO” Lofton
Willie James Lyons
Samuel Gene Maghett “Magic Sam”
Tommy McClennan
Charles “Papa Charlie” McCoy
Wilbur Joe “Kansas Joe” McCoy
Floyd McDaniel
L.C. McKinley
McKinley Morganfield “Muddy Waters”
Louis Myers
Rev. Ben Wiley Payton
Eugene Pearson, Jr.
Arthur Pettis
Brewer Phillips
Hudson Whittaker “Tampa Red”
Mathis James “JImmy” Reed
Willie “Hip Linkchain” Richard
Daniel “Dan” Roberts
Jimmy Rogers
Kenneth “Buddy” Scott
Frank “Son” Seals
Rev. Hudson Shower “Little Hudson”
Claude “Guitar Smitty” Smith, Jr.
Albert Abraham Smothers “Little Smokey”
Hubert Sumlin
Edward “Eddie” Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt “Hound Dog” Taylor
Frank Thomas, Jr.
James Earl Thompson
Luther Tucker
Walter Vinson
Johnny Watson “Daddy Stovepipe”
Walter “Lefty Dizz” Williams
Robert “Poor Bob” “Po’ Bob” Woodfork
JAMES A. “JIMMY” BERTRAND (1900-1960)
Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery
6001 W. 111th Street
Alsip, IL 60803
Sec. 9, Blk. 8, Lot 38, Grave 1 (unmarked per cemetery staff)
Jazz & Blues Drummer
Jimmy Bertrand was an influential jazz and blues percussionist whose career was closely tied to the development of the Chicago jazz scene during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, he moved to Chicago in 1913, where he studied percussion and began performing in theater orchestras before joining Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra in 1918. Over the following decade, he established himself as one of the city’s leading drummers and washboard players, performing and recording with many of the era’s most important musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Blind Blake, Ma Rainey, Tiny Parham, and Eddie South.
In addition to his work as a sideman, Bertrand led his own ensemble, Jimmy Bertrand’s Washboard Wizards, which featured notable collaborators such as Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Dodds. His recordings showcased not only his drumming but also his skill on the washboard, xylophone, and other percussion instruments, reflecting the versatility that made him a sought-after performer in both jazz and blues sessions.
Bertrand was equally significant as a teacher. He trained several future jazz greats, including Lionel Hampton, Big Sid Catlett, and Wallace Bishop. Hampton later referred to Bertrand as his “original idol,” highlighting the lasting influence Bertrand had on the next generation of percussionists. Although he continued leading bands into the early 1940s, he left professional music around 1944 to work in a Chicago meat-packing plant, making only occasional musical appearances thereafter. While he never achieved the fame of many of his contemporaries, Bertrand’s recordings, performances, and teaching established him as a foundational figure in early Chicago jazz and blues.
James A. “Jimmy” Bertrand -> Wikipedia
JAMES KOKOMO ARNOLD (1901-1968) – GRAVE
Blues Guitar
Considered to be amongst the greatest bluesmen, due to his intense style of playing and his rapid fire vocal delivery. He played the slide guitar and he was left handed. He died of a heart attack.
[Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip – 41°39’45.2″N 87°43’54.7″W]
WILLIAM “BIG BILL” BROONZY (1893-1958) – GRAVE
Country / Folk / Blues Guitar
Big Bill Broonzy was a guitar player, songwriter and a singer, who started out in the 1920s playing country music to black audiences. While he did play a more urban blues in the 1930s and 1940s, he returned to his folk-blues roots in the 1950s and became a huge star.
[Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island – Section TLA, Lot 289, Grave S3-E 1/2 – 41°40’13.8″N 87°42’04.0″W]