Adrian Gurvitz - Acoustic Heart (1996)

When The Wave in Los Angeles started defining its approach in station IDs as smooth jazz, no doubt the programmers had in mind the kind of easy, breezy passion they'll hear on Adrian Gurvitz's smoothfest Acoustic Heart. In both his keen melodic sensibilities and silky way with an acoustic riff, Gurvitz pours on the romance with a vengeance, giving the format any number of solid individual cuts. Best of all, within each tightly seamed arrangement, he plucks around with ever so much improv to let us know how jazz efficient he is. While there's no argument that any handful of his heartfelt valentines make for magnificent listening, there is a downside when it comes to the all-important tracking. There's simply no variation in tempo from one tune to the next. A few melodies stand out, but in the end, so much attention is paid to the underlying mellow vibe that each tasty musical egg yolk kind of runs together with every other. Gurvitz is a skilled player and composer, that's a given. And, taken a few tracks at a time, the overall impressive display will warm the soul. But a little rhythm with that soul would be nice here and there. -- Jonathan Widran