JIMMY PONDER is one of jazz's finest and most consistent, however consistently underrated, guitarists. He sprang onto the national scene in the late 1960s as a session player in the august company of Lou Donaldson, Johnny Hodges and fellow Pittsburgher Stanley Turrentine. He has also worked extensively - and most effectively -with such organists as Charles Earland and Jimmy McGriff. Self taught and exceedingly melodic, Ponder possesses a beautifully mellifluous tone and knows how to swing a tune, particularly a funky

one. Ponder derives his style from his greatest influence, Wes Montgomery; however, he most often resembles the sound - and occasional singing - of George Benson, another fellow Pittsburgher. Though it's worth stating there is nothing imitative about Jimmy Ponder. One listen to his best solos (Turrentine's "Buster Brown", John Patton's "I Want To Go Home", Jimmy McGriff's "Pisces" or Houston Person's "Preachin' and Teachin'", for example) and you know you're in the hands of a practiced practitioner, a consummate communicator and a master musician.