Buzz Guerra My Favorites Local acoustic classical guitarist John "Buzz" Guerra has been playing music almost all of his life. By the time he was 14 he had his own band. Through his teen years, he played with local bands, and after that, he joined up with traveling bands like Alfonso Ramos y Su Orquesta and Sunny Ozuna and the Sunliners. He plays all kinds of styles from conjunto to blues to classical to Jazz guitar. This comes out strong with his instrumental release My Favorites. It is what it claims to be Ð a CD filled with acoustic guitar versions of some of his favorite tunes. The songs vary from James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" to Carlos Santana's "Samba Pa T’" to Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles." This CD makes great background music to driving, working or doing just about anything you have to do. The guitarwork is intricate and beautiful and the songs are interpreted nicely into classical guitar. Sure, it's a little Muzak-y, but what instrumental cover-song album isn't going to be? Buzz has a very strong command over his guitar, and this album is a wonderful testament to that. It's not a flashy CD (you can tell that by the cover), he doesn't overplay the music, he just feels it and conveys the tune the way it was meant to be played. Nice, relaxing, and with skill. If you'd like to check him out, look at his Web site: http://www.buzzguerra.com. He plays at a few spots around town, Zin Bistro (1601 W. 38th Street) every Tuesday and Wednesday, during Waterloo Ice House's (2222 & 360) Sunday Brunch, and on August 8 he will be playing a lunch gig at The Hideout Coffee shop.

I met Buzz in downtown Austin and decided if his music was as good as his personality his albums would be worth having. Buzz didn't spread the good songs over several albums - he put them all here. He picked great tunes, arranged them nicely, and played them wonderfully. My wife played it through once and decided she needed a copy for her office/car!