ABOUT THE ALBUM This is an easy-listening jazz album. The quintet consists of guitar, vibes, keys, upright bass and percussion. (Total time: 57:49) This music is very much in the West Coast Cool Jazz mode, i.e., a minimalist, less frenetic, calmer style than the East Coast hard bop, more heavily arranged, and more often compositionally based. My formative years were the fifties, listening to just about everyone who recorded on the Pacific Jazz and Contemporary labels. Guys I was influenced by were the ones I thought got it right -- Ben Webster and Lester Young (tenor), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), Billy Bauer (guitar), Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (bari sax), Pete Jolly (piano), Don Elliott (mellophone), Lennie Tristano (piano) and Cal Tjader (vibes), to name just a few of the many. ABOUT THE ARTIST Bob Burford is a self-taught finger-style jazz guitarist who grew up with a guitar in the house. He was surrounded by uncles on both sides of the family who played Texas Swing and Hillbilly (that was before the term \"Country & Western\" was coined). He started playing in clubs at the age of 15 in the resort area of southwestern Michigan in the early 1950s. At age 17 he began working with show bands playing rhythm and blues and jazz. Later, he studied privately with renowned guitarist Charlie Byrd who, with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, introduced bossa nova to North America with their “Jazz Samba” album in the early 1960s. Byrd introduced him to John Marlow at American University in Washington, D.C., with whom he studied classical guitar. From there he went to Las Vegas where he worked for Al Ramsey who contracted a stable of musicians who backed all of the casino headliners. Ramsey later became director of entertainment at Caesar’s Palace. Burford\'s claim to fame comes more from who he did not work with rather than who he has worked with. He got the call from Ramsey\'s office to work the Sinatra show but he missed that date because his answering service failed to give him the message until 26 hours later. He is most proud of his two-year association with legendary guitarist George Barnes (Chet Atkins\' favorite guitarist) at Concord Jazz in California. That collaboration produced what came to be known as “the Concord Sound.” Burford is semi-retired now but still owns a private investigative agency in Nashville where he is actively involved in the music scene. ABOUT THE TUNES 1. I WILL WAIT FOR YOU - Norman Gimbel/Michel LeGrand (1964) - from \"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg\", Catherine Deneuve. Michel LeGrand also wrote the music for \"Watch What Happens\", \"The Windmills of Your Mind\" and \"What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life\", among many others. 2. LOLITA DAS FAVELAS - 3. SESSION AT PETE\'S PAD - Henry Mancini (1958) - from the late fifties\' (1958-1961) TV series \"Peter Gunn\" starring Craig Stevens and Lola Albright; one of about two dozen tunes Mancini wrote for the series. Trivia: \"Peter Gunn\" was the first TV series to have it\'s own music. 4. IT DON\'T MEAN A THING - Duke Ellington, Irving Mills - Irving Mills also wrote the lyrics to \"In a Sentimental Mood\", \"Solitude\", \"Caravan\", \"Straighten Up and Fly Right\" 5. BURTON - I wrote this for Chet Atkins, but much too late. His health deteriorated too soon and too quickly. 6. CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ - Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) 7. CACTUS DANCE - I took my son on a tour of the southwest when he was 15. We passed an Arizona desert scene of sujuaro cactus lined up as if they were doing a line dance. 8. BYE BYE BLUES - This tune has 22 unique words in it ... and it took four guys to write it. 9. LULLABY OF THE LEAVES - Lyrics by Joe Young, music by Bernice Petkere 10. HO-BA-LA-LA - João Gilberto - This is one of the bossa tunes I played when I went to Charlie Byrd\'s home to audition to study with him. He had recorded about two years before. 11. GEE STRAINS - 12. STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL - A Bud Powell classic.