Very little here is idiomatic in the way Morel's work is; Almeida arranges more like a pianist than

a string player.
But the harmonies he's found for these Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne, and Fritz Loewe songs are lush in the extreme,
and the pieces sing as few other arrangers' work does. Try As Long as He Needs Me and My Funny Valentine; learn
the cadenzas last, or leave them out if you like. Work your way up to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and The Most
Beautiful Girl in the World.
Another treasure trove is Almeida's Contemporary Moods for Classical Guitar (Robbins-Big 3 #B3-4839). It
includes a few fairly easy arrangements (Ma'mselle, Blue Moon, On Green Dolphin Street, and Deep Purple, which
are sight-readable). More difficult, and lusher fare includes Laura and that other even darker David Raksin number,
the theme from The Bad and the Beautiful. The only pop song I know with richer harmonies is Lush Life, which
Almeida wisely avoids here.
Some of Almeida's finest work as an arranger, however, comes to us from Japan in an album from Chuo Art
Publishing (available from Guitar Solo, San Francisco). This includes the wonderful head-structure Almeida did for
the LA 4's recording of Misty, with its gorgeous modulation from E major to C major at the end of the first verse.
There are big, luscious versions of Stardust and Holiday for Strings (the latter with its effective imitation of a string
orchestra playing pizzicatto) and what is arguably the best medley arrangement of the three songs from Black
Orpheus ever put on record. As a bonus the editors include Almeida's 35 year old work-up of Nono, by Romualdo
Peixoto, a staple of the old Almeida Quartet of the fifties.
If you are interested in Beatles arrangements, again the pirated Morel versions stand out. But there are legal, and
easy to play tunes available as well in Sittin' Back Pickin' (Mel Bay MB 93825; cassette available) by Nashville
player John Knowles, whom Chet Atkins calls "the laziest really good guitarist I know." The Beatles works are
Blackbird, Lady Madonna, Yesterday, and a cheerful, surprisingly effective and easy version of Eleanor Rigby.
Look too, in unlikely places. In Rick Foster's More Hymns for Classic Guitar (Mel Bay; cassette available) you'll
find two of the best walking-bass arrangements you'll ever hope to hear or play: Peace Like a River, which moves
like an express train; and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a gorgeous arrangement full of blues notes which, like the
Kern tunes cited earlier, would make a wonderful encore for a more serious program. Foster's best arrangements are
very, very good indeed.
Mario Abril's best work is probably a pair of medleys published, like all his pops work, by Charles Hansen. My own
favorite is the one from Fiddler on the Roof (#13084), with the opening numbers and their reprise aptly framing the
two classic waltzes (Sunrise, Sunset and Matchmaker, both of which Abril also published in easier, but equally
beautiful arrangements in album T620). The other is a well-chosen suite from Porgy and Bess (Album J 2009),
capped by a jaunty version of the banjo song I Got Plenty of Nuttin'. Both of these were recorded--splendidly, too-by Abril on a now out of print recording from Hansen, along with two good Scott Joplin arrangements.
Also out of print, unfortunately, is Abril's Popular Songs for Classical Guitar, an overflowing cornucopia of popular
song marred only by the fact that Abril all too obviously wasn't offered the chance to read the proofs. You have to
correct misprints by ear; but when you've done so you have a huge archive--74 selections--of works ranging from
show tunes (Once Upon a Time) and movie tunes (Valley of the Dolls, Never on Sunday and Stella by Starlight) to
jazz standards (Tenderly) and country-western tunes (Green Grass of Home). My own favorite, for no reason I can
name, is Somethin' Stupid, which seems just about right. How can a Cuban like Abril understand our music so
perfectly? (But then how can a Brazilian like Almeida, or an Argentine like Morel?) Hunt for this one in the secondhand stores--or bother Hansen about reprinting.
Gregg Nestor has a wonderful book of Gershwin arrangements called By George! from Warner (#GF-0323) with a
nice, abridged version of Rhapsody in Blue which will do fine for the club date. Also included is a splendid medley

of Gershwin tunes which opens with a lovely setting of I Got Rhythm.

Many of the same tunes are to be found in Best of Gershwin by Stan Ayeroff (Warner #GF-0324). Ayeroff was once
a guitarist with Danny Elfman's Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (a magically gifted musical mime troupe
which, to the despair of its fans, turned into a rock group in the '80s). He is a man with one foot in the plectrum
guitar camp and the other in the finger-style camp; I find his arrangements need tinkering before they come alive in
my hands. But he knows harmony and the guitar as few arrangers do: try for instance his setting of Jeepers Creepers
(quick and bouncy) and As Time Goes By (cocktail guitar) in Play it Again, Stan (Warner #GF-0235). This is a book
worth looking at.
This list could go on a good deal longer--but it'll get you started. If you play through all of it and little by little find
your own favorites, you'll soon have a very full repertoire at your fingertips, one that will pay a lot of bills in the
long run. But if you've got a trace of adventurousness it may also get you started investing in fake books and making
your own arrangements.

This is the first in a series of articles adapted from "the repertoire" columns by George Warren, published in Guitar
Review. This article first appeared in Guitar Review #79, Fall 1989. George Warren, a Carmel Guitar Society
member, has written music reviews for American Record Guide, Record Review, and Guitar & Lute.