Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrd was just 10 when he learned to play the acoustic steel guitar, being taught by his father - an accomplished guitar and mandolin player. After serving in the US Army in the Second World War, Byrd went to New York to study composition and jazz theory at the Harnett National Music School in Manhattan, where he also learned classical guitar, going on to study under the great classical guitarist Andres Segovia. He was also heavily influenced by the legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who he first saw playing in Paris. In 1957 he began gigging with bass player Keter Betts and two years later they both joined Woody Herman's band. He went on to lead his own band and, after a tour through South America, developed a passion for Brazilian music, which intensified after meeting Stan Getz. Their resultant album together Jazz Samba was a huge success, igniting a bossa nova craze and Byrd delved further into Latin music in 1973, recording the Tambu album with vibraphone player Cal Tjader. Through the 1980s and 1990s he continued to experiment, merging jazz and classical music and toured extensively with the Annapolis Brass Quintet. He died of lung cancer in 1999.

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