I first became aware of Pittsburgh jazz guitarist Jimmy Ponder from listening to some of organist Jimmy McGriff's albums of the 1970s like Let's Stay Together, Stump Juice and Main Squeeze. After that I started searching for his solo albums (his first, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, came out in '73) and purchased titles such as All Things Beautiful (1978) and Mean Streets: No Bridges (1987).
You can hear Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell in his playing (he freely admits the influences) and he's particularly eloquent on ballads like You Are Too Beautiful from To Reach a Dream, a 1991 date for Muse. The organist is Lonnie Smith and you can listen to and download the track below.
You Are Too Beautiful
To Reach a Dream has been out of print for some years. Used CD copies command ridiculous prices, starting at around $30 in Amazon's marketplace. There's one copy on eBay for $62! The album isn't available as a legal download, but you can hear two more tracks from To Reach a Dream at Jimmy Ponder's Myspace page.
Jimmy Ponder has continued to record for a variety of labels over the years, with his most recent albums, Somebody's Child and Solo: Live at the Other Side, coming out in 2007.
And finally here's a video of Ponder performing Stormy Monday Blues. The date and location of the performance aren't specified but it was uploaded to YouTube in 2008. The quality of the video and audio is only fair.
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