Acoustic Jazz Quartet: Acoustic Jazz Quartet

A Known Entity. Tenor and Soprano Saxophonist David Sills made his Naxos Jazz debut in 1998 with Journey Together (Naxos Jazz 86023-2). His style was an updated Stan Getz/Lester Young combination that strained through his education and experience provided some of the most enjoyable tenor music to be released by the Naxos Jazz label. Sills has a meticulously manicured tone that reflects much listening and practice. He joins a young and accomplished guitar-based rhythm section lead by guitarist Jamie Findley.

Guitar-Tenor. Findley, whether playing acoustic or electric, provides a seamless foil to Sills. He too has a perfect tone and performance. Together they share a warmth and sincere empathy that is immediately appealing. I have played this disc many times and my colleagues that have stopped by to listen all liked it, jazz enthusiast or not (a good sign!). The consensus disc center of gravity is bassist Zac Matthews’ blues, “Just Like it’sAlways Been”. The Quartet wisely opens its disc with this good-natured romp that immediately gets the listener’s attention. The remainder of the disc continues in the same seamless and comforting vein (check out the half-time stroll “Stompin’ at the Savoy”).

A Baker’s Dozen. Acoustic Jazz Quartet should be included in the Baker’s dozen of Naxos Jazz Releases. White-hot recommendation.

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