Charles L. Byrd (September 16, 1925 - November 30, 1999), better known as Charlie Byrd, was a famous
jazz guitarist, born in Suffolk, Virginia. He was the only
jazz guitarist of that era whose primary instrument was the classical guitar which gave him his uniquely identifiable sound. Byrd primarily looked up to
Django Reinhardt. He moved to Washington, D.C., to study classical guitar with the renowned
Sophocles Papas. He later moved to Italy where he studied with
Andrés Segovia. In the early 1960's he was on a State Department tour in South America where he was introduced to a …
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