Oscar Alemán was one of the great overlooked guitarists of the swing era—a virtuoso whose music connected American swing, South American rhythms, and the hot jazz of 1930s Paris. A contemporary of Django Reinhardt and guitarist and bandleader for Josephine Baker, Alemán developed a distinctive style that remains largely unexplored by guitarists today.

The Oscar Alemán Play-Along Songbook Vol. I brings that music directly to the guitar, with detailed transcriptions, historical material, and play-along tracks for studying Alemán’s melodies, rhythm, and improvisational language.

The digital edition includes a high-quality PDF of the complete songbook, containing:

• 13 detailed transcriptions from Alemán’s recorded repertoire, including Daphne, Dedos Duros, Diga Diga Doo, Hombre Mio, I Never Knew, Joseph! Joseph!, Melancolia, Russian Lullaby, Scartunas, Stardust, Sweet Georgia Brown, Twelfth Street Rag, and You Made Me Love You
• 10 transcriptions of Alemán’s improvised guitar solos
• 3 original Oscar Alemán compositions
• A biographical essay by Michael Dregni
• 20+ rare photographs
• Music presented in standard notation, guitar tablature, and guitar chord diagrams
• 17 play-along audio tracks
• 13 chord charts formatted for easy use on the bandstand