I'd be remiss if I were to write about Gene Bertoncini, as I did yesterday, without doing the same about Charlie Byrd, who, as the popularizer of finger-style jazz guitar, was an influence on Bertoncini, and virtually every other jazz guitarist. He was an influence on all of jazz, in fact, because of his work in bringing Brazilian music and the Bossa Nova style into its current mainstream status. Byrd's 1962 collaboration with the saxophone giant, Stan Getz, Jazz Samba, remains a cornerstone in the field, and a must-hear for every jazz fan. Here's a link to the opening track, "Desafinado", which features tremendous solo work, by both Byrd and Getz, that proved that Bossa Nova could provide a framework for a jazz musician's abilities that would be every bit as solid and challenging as those found in standards: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGfiAzPiYG4). This cut was a pop hit at the time, by the way, reaching #15 on the Billboard charts. Those were the days.