Guitarist Will Sumner may be one of the best artists you’ve barely heard of, and may not haveheard of at all. His latest release, Meadowlark, is the 10th in a series of excellent albums he has released since his debut Tropic Zone, in 1980. A Californian by birth, he was living in Minneapolis and a part of the thriving music scene there at the time. It would be 20 years before his sophmore effort, Desde Mi Corazon. By then he had moved back to California, started his family and was doing film scores and commercial work. The title track and the song “Dangerous Ground” caught the attention of radio programmers and he has since released 8 CJazz albums and a holiday collection. Although his music is accessible, melodic and commercial a lot of it is considered “too edgy” for traditional smooth jazz radio because of the pop and rock influences, uptempo songs, and electric guitar solos Can you think of any better reason to get to know his music though? His newest release is Meadowlark. It’s a collection of songs inspired by the time he spent on his grandmothers farm during during his childhood and teen years. It’s one of his more mellow releases and full of gorgeous playing and well crafted songs.