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 in a linear voice in an ensemble) is their abilityto play (or imply) all aspects of 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.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

The guitar?s entrance into American culture began in the early 1800s introduced primarily by visiting and immigrant Spanish guitarists. Many of these newly arrived Spaniards exerted great influence on the guitar?s development in19th century America. The works in this book contain the compositions and arrangements of eight noted 19th century Hispanic American guitarist/composers with an emphasis on their works that reflect Latin themes or rhythms.Rounding out this anthology are dance forms such as the Habanera Jota Cachucha Sevillaño Spanish Mazurka and other Spanish dance related works along with extended concert pieces such as Theme and Variations Serenades Polonaises and a delightful arrangement of The Celebrated Spanish Retreat a programmatic work with an unusual ?C? tuning and novel harmonic effects crafted to imitate the bugles horns and drums as heard on the battlefield. Thebook features twenty-one solos and two duets which range in difficulty from easy to advanced. An extensive and well researched text along with photos and a companion recording by acclaimed guitarist/scholar Douglas Back help tomake this a landmark book.