John Williams is often quoted as being the best currently living and performing classical guitarist, yet his peer, mentor and former recording partner Julian Bream takes the cake when it comes to sheer daredevil classical fretboard pyrotechnics. For five decades, the U.K. based Bream was the preeminent classical guitar virtuoso on RCA Records. For their 2008 two CD set of The Essential Julian Bream, Sony Legacy and BMG join forces in crafting a truly essential set consisting of the cream of Bream during his RCA years. Compiling from a number of different RCA album releases, Bream’s Legacy Essential set features tracks recorded between 1959 and 1990. Guitar players of all ages should check out Bream and revisit the vital influence he had and has still upon just about every great U.K. guitarist—from prog-rock classicist Steve Howe to jazz fusion legend Allan Holdsworth and beyond. Liner notes are concise, beginning with Bream’s October 1958 debut in NYC at Town Hall and track discography. www.sonybmgmasterworks.com

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