Guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli hold unique places in the history of jazz music. As the mainstays of the Quintet of The Hot Club Of France, they are the first European musicians to directly influence what was in their heyday a completely American-based genre. The tracks on this compilation have been digitally re-mastered and feature all their biggest tunes.

Loose and spontaneous, this (mainly) live album is a meeting of three of the greatest guitarists in the world for an acoustic summit the likes of which the guitar-playing community rarely sees. Broken up into three duo and two trio performances, Friday Night in San Francisco catches all three players at the peaks of their quite formidable powers.

It's virtually impossible to imagine modern music without the contributions of Les Paul. Not only was he a brilliant jazz guitarist with no fear of pop or country, he literally laid the framework for how a good electric guitar should be made when he designed his famous Les Paul model for Gibson Guitars. Add in the fact that he single-handedly invented multi-track recording with the release of "Lover" in 1948, and his influence is pervasive, if not always acknowledged, even in today's 21st century hip-hop world. This delightful collection brings together rare 16" radio transcription discs Paul did in 1944 and 1945, shortly after he was discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces. Although billed as a trio, the band here is really a quartet, with Paul on lead guitar, Cal Gooden, Jr. on rhythm guitar, Clint Nordquist on upright bass, and probably Bob Armstrong on piano (Paul used several piano players during this time period, but Armstrong is the most likely candidate for these sessions).

Although the rhythm section was more "modern" than he usually used (keyboardist Benny Aronov, bassist Malcolm Cecil, and Airto Moreira on drums and percussion), guitarist Jim Hall (who always had a harmonically advanced style anyway) has little difficulty adapting to the fresh setting. Highlights of the well-rounded CD reissue include Hall's "Simple Samba," "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," an unaccompanied "I Should Care," and Milton Nascimento's "Vera Cruz".

Oscar Alemán is one of the great unknown talents in jazz history. A brilliant guitarist who sounded very close to Django Reinhardt at times, Alemán was overshadowed in Europe by Reinhardt in the 1930s and spent much of the rest of his career in his native Argentina, remaining well known only in that country. This 1998 double CD from Dave Grisman's Acoustic Disc label has highlights from Alemán's career, including the eight selections he recorded during his three European sessions of 1938-1939, plus music from 1941-1947 and 1951-1954. Although the settings varied (including a sextet with violinist Svend Asmussen, a nonet, and two unaccompanied guitar solos), Alemán's basic swing style stayed the same, retaining its enthusiasm and creativity and remaining unaffected by bop. Sticking throughout to acoustic guitar and taking an occasional good-time vocal, Alemán is heard in peak form. He deserves to be much better known. A definitive two-fer from a major talent.

GRP's generally well-chosen 1991 Collection covers an entire decade of Lee Ritenour releases from Elektra and GRP. As such, those years seem to form a late-'70s plateau descending into a commercial valley by the early part of the '80s and then gradually ascending a slope as Rit's playing grows and deepens in the decade's final years. Some of the high points are the Latin-inflected numbers from Festival ("Latin Lover") and Portrait ("Asa") and two excellent straight-ahead excerpts from Stolen Moments ("24th Street Blues," "Waltz for Carmen"), the latter two with lots of Wes Montgomery-like octave work. And even "Is It You?," Ritenour's pop hit from 1981, comes off as a good, catchy piece of record-making. Recommended for those who only want a sample of Lee Ritenour's voluminous solo output.

American guitarist Bill Frisell is one of the most singular musicians of his generation. Frisell has appeared on over 80 recordings, with performers like Ginger Baker, Gavin Bryars, Don Byron, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithful, Wayne Horvitz, Lyle Mays, Paul Motion, Hal Wilner, John Zorn, John Scofield, Paul Motian and Charlie Haden. Bill has performed on dozens of top recordings as leader and sideman and has composed lots of film music. Bill Frisell is in constant demand worldwide because he invest his playing with such strong intention. His diverse musical concepts embrace everything from blues, gospel, worksongs and country music to jazz, rock and even pop. Now see him live performing live for a jazz experience like no other!

Playing sideman to Rick Braun, Larry Carlton, Gato Barbieri, the Neville Brothers, and many others introduced guitarist/vocalist Steve Oliver to smooth jazz fans, but it was with Steve Reid's band that Oliver found a following. It was 1996 when Reid contacted Oliver at the last minute to fill in for a canceled opening act. Oliver hit the stage as a solo act and Reid was impressed with the guitarist's vocalese skills and summery sound. Oliver had come to vocalese not through King Pleasure or Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, but through Bobby McFerrin and Pat Metheny's work with Richard Bona and David Blamires, who sang along with guitar solos. Being a fan of the earthy Metheny sound, Reid hired Oliver after the gig and featured him in his touring band. Reid's Mysteries and Passion in Paradise albums featured Oliver not only as guitarist but songwriter as well. Oliver struck out on his own in 1999 with his debut, First View, released by Night Vision. The album spawned three hit singles on smooth jazz radio and earned the guitarist a Debut Artist of the Year award from Smooth Jazz News.

Many highlights of Scofield's work from his late 1980s-early 1990s tenure on Blue Note are included in this collection, which features cameos from Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, and Bill Frisell among many other all stars. Also included is material from Hand Jive, Scofield's collaboration with Eddie Harris, and an unreleased take on Wayne Shorter's "Tom Thumb".

The vague country elements long dwelling on the fringes of Bill Frisell's music rise to the forefront on Nashville, an exquisitely atmospheric collection recorded in Music City with the aid of dobro legend Jerry Douglas, Union Station members Adam Steffey and Ron Block, and Lyle Lovett & His Large Band's bassist Viktor Krauss. Produced by Wayne Horvitz, the record is both genuine and alien – while played with real affection for the country form and without any avant posturing, its sound is original and distinct, a cinematic variation on C&W tenets. While primarily instrumental and comprised largely of Frisell originals, Nashville does welcome vocalist Robin Holcomb for a pair of more traditional numbers – Hazel Dickens' "Will Jesus Wash the Bloodstains from Your Hands" and the Skeeter Davis hit "The End of the World" – as well as a cover of Neil Young's "One of These Days."

Mention the name of guitarist Joe Negri to any Pittsburgh native and you'll invariably be greeted with a smile. Negri is a Pittsburgh jazz legend who has gigged with countless performers and symphonies over the decades. He's also loved by millions of baby boomers through his role as "Handyman Negri" on the renowned PBS TV series Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. As endearingly modest as he is brilliant, Negri has unwittingly created one of the finest modern Christmas recordings I've ever heard with Guitars For Christmas. Joined by accomplished guitarist Marty Ashby on rhythm, Negri takes you on a string-driven sleigh ride through traditional songs and latter-day favorites featuring nine different guitar models.

This album is something of a legend in the annals of ECM lore, as it was the only ever recorded by the fantastically talented Steve Eliovson. With Collin Walcott on percussion for support, the since unheard-from guitarist carves lasting impressions that can now be thankfully heard on CD. The experience begins in “Venice” (as in California), where the guitar speaks with tabla like two continents connected by tectonic plates beneath an ocean. Eliovson’s sonorities are pristine, especially in “Earth End” and in “Slow Jazz,” where the precision of finger placement and the occasional bent note add a soulful turn of phrase. The album’s portal is “Awakening,” a submarine communion of gongs that closes one door while opening another. The title track is buoyed by a glimmering triangle and arpeggios from an internal guitar, while the external speaks in tongues with the various percussive accents that flit in and out of its view.

Billy Butler is well known to guitarists only, as the co-author of the early R&B funked-up standard "Honky Tonk," with organist Bill Doggett. The two albums featured in this single disc two-fer reissue – Guitar Soul and Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, both released in 1970 – offer a wider view of the man and his music. The opening track on Guitar Soul is a cut worthy of the Meters in its New Orleans-styled second-line funk called "Blow for the Crossing." Nine and a half minutes in length, it's dark, spooky, greasy, and funky as hell. With Seldon Powell on tenor, Sonny Phillips on organ, Specs Powell on drums, and Bob Bushnell on bass, it's a jam du jour. Everybody solos, but Butler and Phillips are the pair that bend the tune all over the place like Gumby on Pokey. With an elongated melodic line played by Powell on the saxophone and punched-up by the drums, there's nothing to keep the body still in its massive groove-o-phonics. But the almighty groove wasn't Butler's only strength. With a saxophonist like Houston Person, he could play the most elegant swing – as in their read of the Rodgers & Hart classic "Dancing on the Ceiling" on the second half of the album, or as a solo guitarist he could play from the Montoya fake book as he does on "Golden Earrings," with a classical guitar.

Secret Story is among the more provocative recordings in Pat Metheny's oeuvre. Combining the relaxed groove of the early Pat Metheny Group recordings, it is full of odd sounds, exotic instrumentation, and the participation of members of the London Orchestra conducted by Jeremy Lubbock. Along with regular group members – bassist Steve Rodby, drummer Paul Wertico, percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, pianist-keyboardist Lyle Mays – numerous guests adorn these tracks as well: bassists Charlie Haden and Will Lee, percussionist Armando Marcal, vocalist Mark Ledford, jazz harmonica legend Toots Thielmans, Gil Goldstein, and Pat's brother Mike Metheny. But what's most notable is that none of these players are constants, as this is most certainly a Metheny solo effort: Secret Story is his own song, so to speak. His acoustic and electric guitars are augmented by synthesizers and samplers, and no matter how lush these proceedings get, they are never overwhelmed by production.

Larry Coryell will always be best known for arguably being the first fusion guitarist, but his career has been quite wide-ranging ever since the late '60s. On Shining Hour , he mostly sticks to jazz standards other than his own "Floyd Gets a Gig" and Brian Torff's "Apathy Rains." Several of the selections are identified with Miles Davis including "Nefertiti" and "The Sorcerer" but there are also hard swinging versions of "All the Things You Are" and "My Shining Hour." Coryell, whose playing works well in this (for him) rare setting although he is not really a boppish improviser, interacts with pianist Kenny Barron (who sometimes takes solo honors), bassist Buster Williams and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith.