Contemporaries of the Jazz Guitar

2008 release featuring the first solo guitar album from Jazz great Al Viola (originally released in 1957) plus historic recordings from fellow Jazz guitarist Johnny Smith. Though working independently, both Al Viola and Johnny Smith brought to their solo recordings a similar kind of hushed intimacy, a close-up magic that owed as much to their mastery of classical forms as of Jazz. Both possessed formidable techniques, but each realized that it was better kept in check and used for deeper purposes than merely dazzling the listener. The result was a Chamber Jazz whose minimalist aesthetic, while still allowing scope for improvisation, suggested the monastic intensity of a concert hall performance more than the vibe of a sweaty Jazz club. While Viola is well-known as having been Frank Sinatra's guitarist for twenty-five years, Smith - described by Barney Kessel as "an extraordinary virtuoso" - wrote 'Walk Don't Run' and with Stan Getz created one of the biggest selling Jazz records of all time in 'Moonlight in Vermont'. Fivefour.