Joe Pass was a guitarist of exquisite taste who recorded his best work in the '70s and '80s. Pass (born Joseph Anthony Passalaqua) got hooked on drugs at the start of his professional career in the late '40s and subsequently spent most of the '50s in jail. Maybe Pass spent some time in solitary because his beautifully toned guitar had the ability to be quiet yet sound like a full orchestra all by itself. His career started to gain some steam in the '60s, and when he joined Pablo Records in 1973 he quickly became a star. Pass was a favorite of both the public and fellow musicians (like George Shearing and Oscar Peterson). Ella Fitzgerald loved working with him and her best later albums are duets with just Pass' guitar.
