Joe Pass was born in 1929 in New Jersey, U.S.A. He grew up in Pennsylvania into a non-musical family. He started playing the guitar after he was inspired by actor Gene Autry’s portrayal of a guitar playing cowboy. He received his first guitar he was nine years old. His father recognized that his son “had a little something happening” and pushed him constantly to pick up tunes by ear, play pieces not written for the instrument, practice scales and not to “leave any spaces” (to fill in the sonic space between the notes and the melody).

Joe Pass started getting gigs at 14. He was playing with bands fronted by Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet. He began to travel with small jazz groups and moved from Pennsylvania to New York City eventually. In a few years, falling victim to drug abuse, he spent most of the 1950s in relative obscurity. He managed to get rid of the addiction though, after a two-and-a-half-year stay at Synanon, drug rehabilitation program. Slowly returning to playing and performing, he recorded “The Sounds of Syanon” in 1962.

Joe Pass recorded a series of albums during the 1960s for the Pacific Jazz label, including the early classics "Catch Me," "12-String Guitar," "For Django," and "Simplicity." In 1963, he received Downbeat Magazine's "New Star Award." He was also featured on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann and has toured with George Shearing in 1965. Mostly, however, during the 1960's he did TV and recording session work in Los Angeles.

Joe Pass was a sideman with Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Della Reese, Johnny Mathis, and worked on TV shows including the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Steve Allen Show, and others. In the early 1970s, Pass and guitarist Herb Ellis were performing together regularly at Donte's jazz club in Los Angeles. This collaboration led to the recording of the very first album on the new Concord Jazz label, entitled simply Jazz/Concord, along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jake Hanna. In the same period, Pass also collaborated on a series of music books, and his Joe Pass Guitar Style (written with Bill Thrasher) is considered a leading improvisation textbook for students of jazz.

In 1974, Pass released his landmark solo album Virtuoso on Pablo Records. Also in 1974, Pablo Records released the album The Trio featuring Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. The Trio won a Grammy award for best jazz performance. As part of the Pablo Records "stable," Pass also recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and others.

Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded four albums together on Pablo Records, toward the end of Fitzgerald's career. She had previously recorded several albums with just piano accompaniment, but a guitar proved to be a good melodic foil for her. They appeared together on the following albums: Take Love Easy (1973), Easy Living (1986), Speak Love (1983) and Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976).

In addition to his ensemble performances, the jazz community regards Joe Pass as an influential solo guitarist. His solo style was marked by an advanced linear technique, sophisticated harmonic sense, counterpoint between improvised lead lines, bass figures and chords, spontaneous modulations, and transitions from fast tempos to rubato passages.

Pass's early style (influenced by guitarist Django Reinhardt and saxophonist Charlie Parker), was marked by fast single-note lines and a flowing melodic sense. Pass had the unusual lifelong habit of breaking his guitar picks in half and playing only with the smaller part. As Pass made the transition from ensemble to solo guitar performance, he preferred to abandon the pick altogether, and play finger style. He found this enabled him to execute his harmonic concepts more effectively. His series of solo albums, Virtuoso (volumes 1 through 4) are a demonstration of Pass's refined technique.
Jos Pass died on May 23, 1994 in Los Angeles, California). His accomplishments in jazz music are still recognized today among musicians. His extensive use of walking bass lines, melodic counterpoint during improvisation, and use of a chord-melody style of play opened up new possibilities for jazz guitar and had a profound influence on future guitarists.