Charlie Christian is one of the three seminal jazz guitarists, the other two being Django Reinhardt and Les Paul.

The recordings by C.C. mainly include his works with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. To our ears today these works may sound dated, but they represent very fine swing material from the golden age of jazz.

Charlie Christian was on the cutting edge of be-bop as evidenced by the recordings of his jam sessions at Minton's in Harlem along with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonius Monk. This contrasts with his works with Goodman.

Of course this CD features C.C. for solos along with the rest of the orchestra. Perhaps it could have been better if he were taking longer extended solos.

His technique and style reflect a true genius at work and as a guitarist in the jazz genre, C.C. was defining a new standard of guitar playing for his day and age. The next breed of jazz guitarists continued where he left off due to a premature death.

As a starting point in jazz guitar, this CD is a must for anyone interested in the roots of jazz guitar.

Robert G. Denman

This album has some great examples of Charlie's playing, of which there are not all that many (he died at age 23).

Since all of the stuff on the album is with Benny Goodman's band, it's not a pure guitar album. Charlie's solos are always just a brief portion of each song and often leave you wanting more, but the tunes are pretty good swing jazz, anyway.

good starting point for playingsolos , especially good starting point for jazz guitar players.

Chech it out...few guitarusts have been as visionary and influential as Charlie Christian... buy this CD and find out why. He is agile, plays great lines (not quite bebop, but kind of tending towads it)...the clarinet is a little cheesy sometimes, but this is a high point in American Music.