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Jack West & Curvature offer ultrasvelte "progressive acoustic jazz"

Comments (0) By Sam Prestianni Wednesday, Aug 1 2001

A self-professed guitar geek, Jack West likes to put all the notes in the right places. His clean, melodic riffs and savvy leads convey a clear sense of purpose that's ripe for a feature in Acoustic Guitar magazine -- a fate which may not be far off, considering how the respected boutique publication recently awarded West's fourth album, As We Know It, top honors in its self-released CD competition.

Details

Wednesday, Aug. 1

6 p.m.

Admission is free

675-5996

The band also performs on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 10 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market (at Sanchez), S.F.

Tickets are $5

861-5016

North Beach Jazz Festival, Lost & Found Saloon, 1353 Grant (at Green), S.F.

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Like former Bay Area guitarist Charlie Hunter, West plays a custom-made eight-string with which he adds rich chords and bass lines to his solos. But he's less funky than Hunter, preferring a breezier, purer music that he calls "progressive acoustic jazz." His sound is smooth and unobtrusive, yet it's also deceptive in its mellowness -- thanks in no small part to his Curvature bandmates: pedal steel guitarist David Phillips, drummer Dan Foltz, and marimba player Joel Davel. Davel, who has logged "new music" hours with the Paul Dresher String Ensemble, creates a light timbral and harmonic backdrop from which West springboards, using his patented eight-string slide technique. Their interplay is the kind of thing that makes guitar rag readers -- and less initiated listeners -- go gaga.