Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra from August 1939 to June 1941. His single string technique combined with amplification helped bring the guitar out of the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instrument. John Hammond and George T. Simon called Christian the best improvisational talent of the swing era. In the liner notes to the 1972 Columbia album Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian, Gene Lees writes that "many critics and musicians consider that Christian was one of the founding fathers of bebop, or if not that, at least a precursor to it."
Christian's influence reached beyond jazz and swing, and in 1990 Christian was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Charles Henry Christian was raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was one of many musicians who jammed along the city's "Deep Deuce" section on N.E. Second Street. In 2006 the city renamed a street in its Bricktown entertainment district "Charlie Christian Avenue." Oklahoma City is also the home of an annual jazz festival named for Christian.
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