Just happened upon this site and read your fabulous list of essential guitar talents. All but a few on your list actually have intense meaning for me, too, and the others–well, it shouldn’t be surprising that I stand in awe of them also.

I was thrilled to see the name of Ted Greene on your list. I had the pleasure of meeting him once after he “lectured” at my brother’s guitar school–or more like carried on a stream-of-consciousness monologue of musings on jazz, theory, “Columbo”, and the South Korean economy of the time–intermittently playing for us with a warmth and quiet mastery that left me near tears.

I had just flown in from overseas, and was sick as a dog with a cold. I didn’t want to go anywhere that night, and had never heard of the artist in question, but my brother (the rock/R&B specialist, mind you) said, “Ton’, you don’t understand–it’s Ted Greene…If you still have a pulse, you have to go.”

Thank goodness for wise little brothers who know how to play–and how to hear.

Like another commenter here, I too am taken with the work of Ben Monder and Kurt Rosenwinkel, people who are still relatively new to me.

And may I just say that when I saw Joao Gilberto’s “Voz e Violao” on your list I nearly fell off my seat. Your reasoning behind including this incredible stylist impressed me even more.

Don’t know when your piece was written, or if you’ll ever see this note, but I thought I’d check in to thank you for pulling together a list that I can use to further my own continuing explorations in jazz guitar.

What might appear on a list of mine, aside from many of the albums already on yours? Virtually anything by Mimi Fox, Russell Malone, Grant Green, Tal Farlow, Mundell Lowe, Frank Vignola, Ralph Grasso, Herb Ellis, Stan Jordan, Charlie Byrd…

Oh, well, lunchtime’s over!

Good listening to you and all your readers,

Toni

Bye!

The inclusion of Ted Greene is great to see…An amazing player, educator and person…venture over to http://www.tedgreene.com and you will be in for a gift of more great music.

Deparko

Yeah, the albums on the list were ones that touched me as a listener and shaped me as a player. So not a “best of” list, just a list of 20 records that I wouldn’t want to live without.

If it was a “best of” it would be 2000 records, not 20!