Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ken Navarro: Smooth Sensation

Ken Navarro: Smooth Sensation

Item: Smooth Sensation
Rating: 0
Author: Dave Hughes

By Dave Hughes
July 1, 1998
View read count

Guitarist Ken Navarro's latest CD, Smooth Sensation , is aptly titled; it's silky-smooth, breezy, and relaxing music with just enough heartfelt feeling and energy to keep it interesting. Navarro's musical style, as well as his crystal-clear tone quality, are similar to that of Earl Klugh. He specializes in likable melodies and sonic textures, and manages to stay creative and not clone-ish. His playing, and that of his band, is spirited and tasteful yet stays within the comfortable boundaries of contemporary jazz – there's no envelope-pushing here.

Saxophonist Eric Marienthal, seemingly omnipresent these days, adds sure-footed blowing to the proceedings. Navarro's regular band of Jay Rowe on keyboards (who also has a decent CD out called Jay Walking ), Gary Grainger on electric bass, and Greg Grainger on drums round out the ensemble.

FOLLOW Dave Hughes and get notified whenever a new article published.
Dave writes about the sounds of contemporary jazz.

Personnel

Ken Navarro

guitar

Album information

Title: Smooth Sensation | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: Positive Music

About Ken Navarro

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Islands
< Previous

Creole Jazz
Next >

Become a Sustaining Member

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.