Wayne Wesley Johnson New Jersey-born Wayne Wesley Johnson was inspired as a boy by Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, Nokie Edwards and The Ventures, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery and later by George Benson, Pat Martino, and Earl Klugh. Wayne took up guitar when he was nine and was groomed primarily as a jazz style flatpicking guitarist, having studied with Sandy DeVito, Gary Keller, Eddie Berg, and Vic Cenicola. He also studied classical technique with Carol Hammersma, and flamenco techniques with Ruben and Miguel Romero. Wayne was a leader of his own bands, "The Yellow Jackets" and "Sons and Lovers," and also worked on occasion as drummer for guitar legend Les Paul, with whom he toured the U.S. and South America. He also worked as a drummer for Nokie Edwards, formerly of The Ventures, and with his friends and thumbpicking artists Thom Bresh, Tom (T.W.) Doyle, Eddie Pennington, Steve King, Bob Saxton, Tommy Flint, and Anthony Smith. Wayne's international circle of friends includes some of the world's greatest guitarists and guitar makers. He was introduced only a few years ago, in Nashville, to the thumbpicking country style of Thom Bresh (son of the late Merle Travis), Buster "B" Jones, the late Marcel Dadi, Eddie Pennington, Bob Saxton, Tommy Flint, and the fingerstyle influences of Laurence Juber (Wings), Ed Gerhard, Martin Simpson, Charles David Alexander, and the classical French guitarist Valerie Du Chateau. Wayne was privileged to perform with Thom Bresh at a private convention held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Upon putting down the flatpick in favor of thumb and fingerstyle technique, Johnson later became interested in the Spanish and New Mexico flamenco and Latin sounds of Paco de Lucia, Ottmar Liebert, Armik, Strunz and Farah, Shahin and Sepher, Willie and Lobo, the Gipsy Kings, and his friend and partner on "Hypnotic Safari" Ruben Romero. Wayne has since begun developing a playing style of his own, an integration of different techniques, which he refers to as "Jazzamenco." Over the years, Wayne has also developed as a collector and has had as many as 100 guitars in his collection, several of which are featured on his recordings. He has also designed guitars both for himself and for well-known manufacturers. A self-professed "equipment junkie," Wayne has an arsenal of guitars, amplifiers, studio gear, and sound modules. With the advent of reliable and higher-performance guitar synthesizers and Roland COSM technology, Wayne has embraced the use of the GR-1, GR-30, and VG-8, used on some mixes of his latest CD. Additionally, Wayne is a contributing consultant to Just Jazz Guitar Magazine. Ruben Romero Ruben Romero's fascination with the guitar started at the age of seven, after seeing a flamenco dance performance in Taos, New Mexico. A New Mexico native, his interest was further fanned when he saw flamenco guitarists on the "Ed Sullivan Show." He began studying guitar at age II and later, inspired by the musical interests of his older brothers, he studied flamenco guitar in Spain. In the following years, Romero became a mainstay of the New Mexico music scene and began releasing a series of recordings that merged traditional flamenco with classical and jazz guitar. Romero regularly joins other flamenco artists in public performances and private juergas. He has also appeared with the Denver Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra and has been the subject of a musical documentary aired nationwide on PBS, called 'Simple Treasures.' Ruben's proudest efforts have been as arranger, composer and veteran recording artist. Most of his recordings (over 17 albums and CDs to date) are devoted to his original compositions. Much of his original works are traces of the mesmerizing melodies and rhythms that have expressed the joys and sorrows of the guano soul of his gypsy ancestors--from the lyricism of his heartfelt Lagrimus para Mi Hermano, written in memory of his late brother, accomplished flamenco dancer Vicente, to the driving energy of his rumbas. Ruben's engaging style has distinguished him as one of the primary innovators of the Santa Fe Sound. The October 1997 release of Flamenco Southwest, his 15th recording, is one of his boldest explorations to date, blending gypsy flamenco with sounds inspired by the Native American tradition. He recently completed recording projects with jazz and fingerstyle guitarist Wayne Wesley Johnson. Hypnotic Safari, Flamenco Flavors (IAGO21 ID) and Flamenco Festival (Narada Special Products/Haliniark Music), showcase Ruben's gift for collaboration with players accomplished in other guitar styles. Attention to Ruben's music has broadened with the worldwide success of Gypsy Passion (Narada 1997) where Ruben is teamed with the "Best of the Best New Flamenco" alongside international stars such as Ottmar Liebert, Jesse Cook, Oscar Lopez and Armik. In this CD, Ruben helped introduce innovative flamenco guitar sounds to new listeners around the world. Billboard Magazine has listed Gypsy Passion on its top New Age list for over 40 weeks. He has come to national and international attention through his recordings Flamenco Southwest and Seville to Santa Fe, as well as through his participation on several other Billboard-charting flamenco anthologies