World of Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar – Various

Featuring: Martin Taylor, Tommy Crook, Jim Nichols, Duck Baker & Woody Mann

Records by Charlie Byrd, Lenny Breau, George Van Eps, Laurindo Almieda, and Joe Pass have set a very high standard for solo fingerstyle jazz guitar, and it is from this vantage point that the solo flights of Taylor, Crook, Nichols, Baker, and Mann take wing.

Each player has developed a distinctly different approach to interpreting and writing jazz for solo guitar by listening intently to numerous other musicians and composers – pianists, horn players, bassists, and singers as well as many guitarists in jazz, blues and other styles. What distinguishes them from more traditional jazz guitarists (who more or less function as a linear voice in an ensemble) is their ability to play (or imply) all aspects of the music – rhythm, chords, bass, and melody – without accompaniment. Their performances not only demonstrate their technical brilliance and imagination, they are a testament to the enduring power and beauty of jazz guitar in its current evolution as a major instrumental force in American music.

Titles include:

Martin Taylor: Shining Stockings, My Funny Valentine, Just Squeeze Me

Tommy Crook: Melody Of Birdland, All The Things You Are, It Had To Be You, Wave

Jim Nichols: Can’t Take That Away From Me, East Of The Sun, Taste Of Honey, Here’s That Rainy Day

Duck Baker: Back Home In Indiana, Forty Ton Parachute, Out Of The Past, Seven Point One

Woody Mann: Mr. Guitar, Uptown Tales, Gypsy Girl, Cat Burglar