Indeed, for a man that Harvey Pecar refers to as "the greatest bebop guitarist' DeArango is surprisingly little known in the jazz world. he came to New York in the mid 1940's and seems to have sparked a little fire from the moment he arrived. he drew crowds of admirers on 52nd street and quickly went on to record with such jazz greats as Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie, Slam Stewart, Charlie Kennedy, Ike Quebec, and Lockjaw Davis to name a few. Those who were there tell us that his highly personal, inovative guitar style, formidible technique, and tremendous speed simply mesmerized audiences. DeArango was seventy- five years old on this date and stands as one of his final recordings. this music servese as a fitting memorial to DeArango, both as a musician and as a individual. here he diplays the good-heartedness, playfulness and sense of freedom that inspired and elevated the lives of so many of his friends and fellow musicians. "some fine jazz guitarist have come out of Cleveland: Jimmy Shirley Bill DeArango, Jim Hall, and Michael Bocian. Hall's universally admired and respected, DeArango arguably the greatest bop guitarist blew people away during the few years he played in new york with people like Dizzy Gillespie and Ben Webster , winning an Esquire award, but Bocian who sites as an influence and hung around his cleveland heights music store as a kid but now lives in new york deserves far more attention and air play because his playing is technically brilliant". Harvey Pecar, The Scene ( Cover photo of Bill DeArango)