You know it’s going to be a good album when you see a guy playing an acoustic guitar on the front cover, and on the rear liner notes there is a dominance of material composed by Chick Corea and Tom Jobim. Sometimes, you CAN tell a book by its cover!
Nate Najar plays “unamplified guitar,” and teams up with James Suggs/tp, John Lamb/b, (usually) Matt Home/dr for some romantic moods on “500 Miles High” and a peppy “Chick’s Tune,” which have some wonderful horn work by Suggs. The quartet gets slinky on ”Centerpiece” and sassy on “Sidewalks of New York.” In a trio setting, the guitarist is lovely and lyrical on “O Morro” and with cell by Ella Fredrickson is lonely and languid on “Insensatez.” A pair of solo outings are drop dead gorgeous with a dainty read of Chopin on “Prelude” and a starry night of glowing of “Crystal Silence.” This one’s a treat!