Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Acoustic Jazz Quartet: Organic

Acoustic Jazz Quartet: Organic

By C. Michael Bailey
April 2, 2003
View read count

"Organic Unity" the approximate center point of the Acoustic Jazz Quartet’s new recording Organic, fairly well sums up in an aural sense the constantly evolving vision of this fine West Coast quartet. This slightly Bossa piece shows exactly how far an already superb quartet has come since its previous release, Acoustic Jazz Quartet (Naxos Jazz 86033, 1999) and David Sill’s previous offerings Journey Together (Naxos Jazz 86023, 1999) and Bigs (Naxos Jazz 86070, 2001). The band’s music is seamless as smoke and aromatic as the complex bouquet of the Far East, a great but subtle influence on the band.

Again guitarist Jamie Findlay and saxophonist David Sills weave a sumptuous silken web of brilliant contemporary jazz. The sound is very easy-going, starting with the skipping "J & L" and proceeding through original ballads such as "Darkness Upon the Earth" and "Bahji." Sills and the band reprise his composition "Bigs," providing a more revealing rendition than the original recording. Sills turns introspective on his circuitous composition. The songs tend to be lengthy, five minutes of more, offering intelligent development and consonance to occur.

Organic is the perfect follow-up to the band’s original release. This is an airtight ensemble making rarified music. Highly Recommended.

Visit the Acoustic Jazz Quartet .

Track Listing

J & L; Bigs; Song Of The Century; Darkness Upon The Earth; Alone Together; Organic Unity; Jumpin

Personnel

Acoustic Jazz Quartet

David Sills-Saxophones; Jamie Findlay-Guitars; Zac Matthews-Bass; Dean Koba-Drums

Album information

Title: Organic | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Unknown label

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Antipop Vs. Matthew Shipp
< Previous

Quotable Jazz
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.