Essential Curvature＜Clear Vinyl＞

Essential Curvature is a double-length compilation drawn from five albums by Bay Area folk-jazz-world fusion outfit Curvature, guitarist Jack Wests acoustic band that existed between 1996 and 2003. Their discography includes Continuum (1996), Big Comet Headed for Earth (1998), As We Know It (1999), Big Ideas (2001), and Around About Now (2003). Ota Records signed West for Guitars On Life with guitarist Walter Strauss, to be released alongside the new disc. It contains cuts from each of their releases. The sequencing of these 16 cuts is glorious; it is structured along an aesthetic of flow rather than chronology. The set opener is the killer title track from Big Ideas. Its performed by West, bassist Scott Amendola, marimbist/percussionist Joel Davel, and Turtle Island String Quartet cellist Mark Summer. It cuts across post-bop, shifting polyrhythms with a groove that recalls early Oregon. Wests compositions are polyrhythmically complex, weaving through Eastern modes and sophisticated modal blues. Also from that recording are "This Life May Be Monitored (For Quality Assurance)," with gentle dissonance and drums, plus "Something About the Dream," introduced by Amendola before Wests slide joins Davel in punctuating an elliptical melody. "Slinky," the opening cut from Continuum, is played by a different band that includes mandolinist Mike Marshall, percussionist Scott Profitt, and the late saxophonist Calder Spanier (Charlie Hunter Quartet). Jaws harp, hand percussion, and guitar interplay weave through Far Eastern modalism inside Delta blues atop a funky backbeat. Two tracks later, "Not Touching" offers an excellent open-toned conversation between the guitarist and Spaniers soprano sax. "True South" is another folk-jazz tune with killer chromatic interplay between West and Marshall. The final cut from the album is "Colored Shells," a duet between West and Proffit. "Quarter Past Stockton," from As We Know It, choogles with a marimba vamp and Wests eight-string acoustic playing the bassline under his string bending. Other tunes from the album include "Interaction Shift" with guitarist Dean Magraw and drummer Peter Valsamis. Crisscrossing rhythms meet flamenco, Brazilian, and post-bop runs; both guitarists solo. "Oil Vein" and "Moon with a View," from Big Comet..., include rhythm guitarist Brian Hill with Davel and percussionist Ricky Carter. A Nigerian highlife marimba rhythm frames the blues and slide guitar. "Closer to the Sky," a breezy yet knotty exploration of texture, rhythm, and melody, also appears, as does the bumping, funky stroll of "Oil Vein," where marimba, soprano sax, and guitar evoke Steve Tibbetts. Around About Nows "Backwards Over Bend" weds jazz, funk, and roots Americana via interaction with David Phillips pedal steel. The closer "Christinas Song" comes from the same album; its bright lyricism crisscrosses backwoods Americana, contemporary jazz and new acoustic music in a guitar and percussion duo. The aforementioned album was recorded live in studio. All told, they make Essential Curvature a musical revelation in 2026 that will hopefully initiate further discussion of West and Curvature. ~ Thom Jurek