Mario Escudero (October 11, 1928 – November 19, 2004), was one of a handful of Spanish flamenco guitar virtuosos who, following on the footsteps of Ramon Montoya, helped spread flamenco beyond their Spanish homeland when they migrated to the United States in the early 1950s. Along with others such as Sabicas, Carlos Montoya and Juan Serrano, Escudero helped forge the viability of solo flamenco guitar as a concert instrument, with lauded performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and other venues. Invited to perform at the White House for President John F. Kennedy, Escudero was counted among the best in his era; Ramón Montoya called him "the best flamenco guitarist of this new generation."

This album is dedicated to the compositions of Federico Mompou i Dencausse (1893-1987), a composer and pianist of profound sensitivity. Born in Barcelona, Mompou exhibited an early inclination for the piano. However, inspired after a concert of Gabriel Fauré, he decided to dedicate himself to composition. Like many of his generation, he went to Paris to further his studies. Upon returning to his homeland, he continued his profoundly personal approach to the piano, exploring its most poetic facets as a composer and interpreter. Despite his innate introversion, the unique voice of his music soon gained recognition. His contemplative and poetic music mirrors his life, one of introspection, in which music was used as a medium to connect to his spiritual world.

Sean Shibe returns to the acoustic guitar on Profesion, bringing together works by Agustin Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Alberto Ginastera. The album derives its name from Barrios's "Profesion de fe" (profession of faith), a poetic, mythological text praising the divine power of music, often used as a preface to his concerts. Barrios's La Catedral and Julia Florida are combined with Villa Lobos's 12 Etudes, while Ginastera's Guitar Sonata completes the programme. These works by Southern American composers share a spirit of homage and pastiche, bound together by magical realism.

Typically, Finnish musicians succeed by doing something highly unusual exceptionally well. Guitarist Petri Kumela is different because he’s done all kinds of things exceptionally well: Bach, flamenco, microtonal avant-garde, Fernando Sor on a period guitar and musical theatre. The career of Finland’s most fascinating classical guitarist is based on a do-it-yourself spirit and curiosity.

Frank Bungarten has taken on a significant task: an entire album of works by legendary Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. The composer's music is lush, complex, and richly textured, which is not a surprise given that Villa-Lobos was classically trained. But Villa-Lobos also incorporated inspiration from music of native Brazilian peoples and African cultures, so one cannot consider him purely a formal art music composer. Thus it takes a very skilled musician to be able to technically master the music and to convey the emotion and rhythms. Bungarten is perhaps most successful in the first set of works, Suite populaire brésilienne, which is a set of five dances.

Since the late '60s, John McLaughlin's name has been synonymous with electric fusion guitar. But McLaughlin is equally accomplished on the acoustic guitar; he has a long history of excelling on that instrument, which he plays exclusively on Thieves and Poets. This 2003 release, in fact, isn't fusion in the amplified jazz-rock sense but rather acoustic-oriented post-bop with Euro-classical leanings. Thieves and Poets finds McLaughlin joining forces with two of Europe's classical outfits: the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie (with Renato Rivolta serving as conductor) and the much smaller, guitar-oriented Aighetta Quartet.

While it would be utterly foolish to consider a two-disc set by guitarist John McLaughlin as anything other than a sample of the wildly diverse career he's enjoyed since the early '60s, it should be noted and underscored that what Legacy does with this set is to provide a solid look at not only the man's gifts but at the way he's employed them, exploited them, and let them get the best of him for the past 40-plus years.

Sweet, intimate, and very dry, Fabio Biondi's of Boccherini's Guitar Quintets with players from Europa Galante and guitarist Giangiacomo Pinardi is ineffably charming, but possibly too etiolated for some taste. But it has the feel of polished oak and such a wonderfully evocative sense of place and time that it is hard not to fall for Biondi and Boccherini. Much of the appeal, of course, is Boccherini's music: filled with luminous light and most tender affection, Boccherini is the chamber music equivalent of the young Goya, and it would take a hard heart not to be beguiled by Boccherini's La ritirata di Madrid or swept up in his wonderfully stylized Fandango. Biondi and Europa Galante may be fay, but they match the music's delicate delights. Virgin's sound is close but with a sense of space around it.

Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681) was an Italian guitar player, teacher and composer. First attached to the Mantua court of the Gonzaga family, he later traveled Europe as one of the first guitar virtuosos, finding an admiring welcome at the courts of Madrid and Hannover, finally settling at the court of Louis XIV. In later years he was also active as court musician to Charles II of England, dividing his last 20 years between Paris and London.

John Duarte (1919-2004) was educated at the Manchester University Faculty of Technology. He worked as a professional chemist until 1969, then abandoned chemistry in favor of full-time dedication to music, after having been persuaded by Len Williams, father of John Williams. His only formal musical education consisted in jazz guitar lessons with Terence "Terry" Usher, the rest he learned by self-instruction. He also worked professionally as a player of the trumpet and

Rosario Conte, Baroque music specialist and virtuoso instrumentalist, has here recorded compositions from Francesco Corbetta's instructional manual, "La Guitarre Royal", (1671) along with two pieces by his (probable) student, Robert de Visee. As guitarist and teacher in the courts of Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England, Corbetta almost single handedly popularized the 5 course Baroque guitar in both countries at a time when the lute was the dominant parlour instrument.