Al Caiola’s mastery of the guitar was always abundantly clear, both in his recordings as a studio musician and in his stage performances, and it is just as self-evident in these two albums and in his relationship with the two solid jazz groups that accompany him on them. "High Strung" was recorded in 1959, and without climbing way out on a limb, Al and his supporting cast of guitars—George Barnes, Al Cassamenti, Don Arnone, John Pizzarelli, and Billy Bauer—set new ideas to a solid swinging beat in “electrifying” up-tempo evergreens and a couple of his own compositions, backed by an excellent rhythm section.