Earl Klugh

In a recording career of over three decades, master guitarist Earl Klugh had been lauded first as a prodigy and groundbreaker, then a defining figure, and ultimately as one of the true statesmen of contemporary jazz. Earl Klugh was putting the "smooth" into jazz long before there was an official radio format, debuting the lighthearted, easy funk style that became his trademark on a self-titled album in 1976.