Laurindo Almeida

Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida influenced jazz and popular music far beyond his name recognition in the general public. He brought updated Spanish Classical and Latin American folk guitar to the public's ear with a fluid, swinging style. His 1953 collaboration with Bud Shank combined West Coast Cool with Brazilian Samba and is cited by Antonio Carlos Jobim as a major influence in the development of Bossa Nova. Almeida is a master collaborator, but the trio format allows him to take center stage and stay there. He's so good that he breathes new life into standards and traditional Sambas, and even makes the soggy soft rock of "Up Where We Belong" sound good.