Baden Powell is a Brazilian musician with a solid international reputation. A gifted instrumentalist and composer, he bridges the gap between classical artistry and popular warmth and was a key figure in the bossa nova movement.

Born in the Varre e Sai district, he was baptized after his grandfather, a musician and conductor... [+] Read More

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Carlos Barbosa-Lima has long been a masterful interpreter of a wide range of melodic music. A brilliant acoustic guitarist, Barbosa-Lima gives taste and feeling to works that range from Gershwin to Bach, Jobim to Debussy. Although not an improviser, Barbosa-Lima has been featured on an extensive series of recordings for Concord's Concerto and... [+] Read More

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Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit -- applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a... [+] Read More

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Egberto Gismonti is world-renowned as a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was profoundly influenced by Brazilian master Heitor Villa-Lobos, his works reflecting the musical diversity of Brazil. From the Amazon Indians' batuque to the Carioca samba and choro, through the Northeastern frevo, baião, and forró, Gismonti captures the true... [+] Read More

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The role of the flamenco guitar has evolved through the playing of Paco de Lucia (born Francisco Sanchez Gomez). The son of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sanchez and the brother of a flamenco guitarist, Ramon, and flamenco singer, Pepe, de Lucia has extended the former accompaniment-only tradition of flamenco guitar to include deeply personal... [+] Read More

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Best-known as the leader of the Hieroglyphics Ensemble, Peter Apfelbaum is most comfortable when playing with musicians who mix avant-garde explorations with folk music from other cultures. He began playing drums when he was three and switched to piano and saxophone when he was nine. He played locally in Berkeley as a teenager, formed the... [+] Read More

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Philip Catherine has been called the "Young Django" by none other than Charles Mingus, and upon hearing his elliptical, rapid-fire, expressively melodic acoustic guitar, there can be no doubt as to whose records he was absorbing as a youth. Born to a Belgian father and English mother living in London during World War II, Catherine went back with... [+] Read More

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One of the founders of Oregon, Ralph Towner is one of the few modern jazz musicians to specialize on acoustic guitar. His playing often stretches beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz into world music and is quite distinctive. He started playing piano when he was three and trumpet at five, performing in a dance band when he was 13. Towner... [+] Read More

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