An exciting bop-oriented guitarist who is a fixture at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Bruce Forman moved to San Francisco in 1971. He has mostly headed his own groups in the Bay Area, but played and toured with Richie Cole during 1978-1982. Forman has led his own dates for Muse, Concord, and Kamei. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

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George Benson is simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, but he is also an amazingly versatile musician; and that frustrates critics to no end who would paint him into a narrow bop box. He can play in just about any style -- from swing to bop to R&B to pop -- with supreme taste, a beautiful rounded tone, terrific speed, a... [+] Read More

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Kenny Burrell has been a very consistent guitarist throughout his career. Cool-toned and playing in an unchanging style based in bop, Burrell has always been the epitome of good taste and solid swing. Duke Ellington's favorite guitarist (though he never actually recorded with him), Burrell started playing guitar when he was 12, and he debuted on... [+] Read More

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An outstanding jazz improviser who performed on both acoustic and electric guitars, Lenny Breau's right hand drew on classical, flamenco, and country (Travis/Atkins) finger-picking techniques. He was among the first guitarists to digest the impressionistic, post-bop chord voicings of pianist Bill Evans. Breau developed the ability to... [+] Read More

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One of the most original of the jazz-based guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, Pat Martino made a remarkable comeback after brain surgery in 1980 to correct an aneurysm caused him to lose his memory and completely forget how to play. It took years, but he regained his ability, partly by listening to his older records. Martino began playing... [+] Read More

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Peter Leitch has long been one of the top straight-ahead guitarists in jazz, a fine hard bop-based improviser with a swinging style and an appealing quiet tone. He grew up in Montreal, lived in Toronto during 1977-1981; recorded with Oscar Peterson, the Al Grey/Jimmy Forrest Quintet, and Sadik Hakim; and debuted as a leader in 1981 on the Jazz... [+] Read More

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One of the acid jazz movement's most prominent guitarists, London-born Ronny Jordan is widely credited with returning the instrument to its rightful place as a major force in modern-day jazz; despite outcries from purists, few other artists of his era proved more pivotal in knocking down the long-immutable boundaries of contemporary black music.... [+] Read More

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