Album Notes

Pacific Northwest based acoustic guitarist Eric Skye occupies a unique position by being in the bluesy jazz soloist camp, while also pursuing more extended, often genre-bending improvisations in an intimate, uncluttered solo acoustic steel string guitar context. Adventurous improvisations, simultaneous bass lines, and creative arrangements... blurring the lines between a jazz guitarist playing acoustically, and an acoustic artist playing jazz. "Taste, tone, and technique"- JAZZIZ Magazine "One of the best rising stars of the American acoustic jazz scene" -20th Century Guitar Magazine "Talk about delicious subtlety" - Jazz Improv Magazine " One of the most singularly most wonderful records we've heard in ten years" - Acoustic Music Resource "Eric Skye is a Master Guitarist. This offering of twelve songs drawn from the Great American Songbook and jazz standards like Monk's "Blue Monk" and Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa" is not just a recording, it's an accomplishment. An astonishing one. Part of that is technique, of course. In the process of planning the album, he had what he describes as an "eleventh hour epiphany" regarding the inclusion of a moving bass line into his arrangements, and in doing so he achieves the rarest of all musical feats - an original style. Part of it, too, though, is imagination. Time and time again, I found myself shaking my head and saying "I never would have thought of that!" as he flawlessly applies his technique to some aspect of arrangement that can make a warhorse GAS tune like "Summertime" or "My Romance" sound like something he just thought up."Acoustic Jazz Guitar Solos" is an excellent jazz album, and exceptional guitar album, and a pleasure in every describable way. -JazzReview.com "Skye succeeds by fluidly nailing a counterpoint of walking bass to melody in a way which all jazz guitarists will surely lust after this holy grail of technique" -Minor 7th Magazine "Performing all but three tracks on steel-string guitar, Skye displays a distinct roots flavor. He is as much Artie Traum as he is Jim Hall; as much John Fahey as he is Joe Pass. He is able to operate with an independence of thought that is clearly an extension of Charlie Hunter, by way of Lenny Breau.........Beautifully recorded and cleverly packaged, Acoustic Jazz Guitar Solos is a fine recording of jazz standards that will appeal to jazz fans, but also deserves a listen by fans of more roots-oriented music. Its cross-genre style makes it a unique entry in a space that is occupied by far too many artists who have nothing new to say; Skye clearly does." -John Kelman - Jazz Review.com "....Prodigious technique is allied to a warmth of feeling and expression which makes for some refreshing interpretations.......One outstanding feature of his playing is the inclusion of a very strong, mobile bass line along with chords and melody. ......It's hard to choose favorites from such a selection......retaining the song's inherent momentum whilst ensuring the melody remains in the foreground.....-Paul Donnelly, E-Jazz.com