Mel Bay presents Complete Book of Guitar Technique (Mel Bay Archive Editions)
Sal Salvador was a self taught guitarist whose mastery of the jazz idiom earned him international acclaim. In 1945 Tommy Dorsey encouraged him to come to New York. Sal worked there with groups led by Mundell Lowe and Terry Gibbs. He landed a job at Radio City Music Hall and became a staff musician with Columbia Records. There he backed many of the legendary names in jazz such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett. His roomates were Tal Farlow, Jimmy Raney and Phil Woods! In 1952 Sal joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra and toured for 18 months. During this time he won acclaim for his renditions of such numbers as "Invention for Guitar and Trumpet" with Maynard Ferguson and "Frivolous Sal". Next, he formed his own combo and was cited in the Playboy and Downbeat jazz polls. His composition, "Invention", was used in the movie, The Blackboard Jungle. Sal recorded numerous albums for the Decca label, toured with Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence and co-led a group for over a year with jazz drummer, Joe Morello. Sal has been a devoted student of the jazz guitar and lists legendary guitarist, Johnny Smith, as his mentor. He has written numerous books on jazz guitar technique, theory and improvising for Mel Bay Publications