There's no mistaking Tal Farlow's fret-work: Notes burst chaotically under his rapid movements, but it's also light, as though he might break a string. His style allowed him to play densely arranged lines, as his 1954 recording of “Autumn In New York” shows—some walk, others sprint, but none compromise the ballad's unhurried tempo. That said, Farlow was a tenacious, bop-inspired improviser: Check out his version of “Yardbird Suite,” which finds his whirlwind picking locked in frenetic dialogue with Eddie Costa's keys, or “Falling In Love With Love,” a heady mid-'70s piece in which his muted tones blur together.