Gene Bertoncini - Jobim/Someone To Light Up My (1997)

The veteran guitarist's collection of bossa novas by the late Antonio Carlos Jobim demonstrate his gift for counterpoint and improvisation in this all-acoustic masterpiece. Accompanied only by the Latin percussion of John Arruci and Jon Bates, Bertoncini plays an astonishingly uptempo "Corcavado" that seems to have overdubbed guitar lines but doesn't. Also remarkable is his soft, understated version of "Double Rainbow." Any guitar student or jazz fan will be mesmerized by Bertoncini's crisp playing on "Zingaro."~ Review by Ken Dryden