Composer, guitarist, and inventor Jack West will release two albums on Otá Records (the label behind most of Omar Sosa’s recordings). The first, Guitars On Life, is a new album of percussive acoustic guitar music featuring West and guitarist Walter Strauss performing mostly live in the studio as a Duo.

The second, Essential Curvature, is a compilation of songs West composed and recorded with his group Curvature between 1996 and 2003. Both recordings showcase West’s innovative approach to the acoustic guitar and to composing instrumental music with a focus on rhythm and groove.

Both albums are available on vinyl and digital platforms and are set for release on January 23rd, 2026 on Ota Records / Redeye Worldwide.

For those unaware, this wonderful double album that I am reviewing today Essential Curvature captures Jack West Between 1996 and 2003; a period of time when he released five remarkable albums with his evolving band Curvature.

Still fresh and alluring today, each of these recordings showcases West on 6 or 8-string acoustic guitar in a small, mostly acoustic ensemble that includes instruments such as marimba, a second acoustic guitar, sax, percussion, or pedal steel.

Indeed, Essential Curvature is a best-of collection from the five Curvature albums. All tunes are composed by Jack West (except one he co-wrote). West’s music is regularly described in the press as “stunning”, “breathtaking”, and “extraordinary”, while NPR summed up his music as “a whole new sub-genre of jazz.”

But it can also be said that his music with Curvature is a new genre of American acoustic music influenced by jazz, rock, folk, and funk, in equal doses—and one that features extraordinary acoustic guitar playing.

Side A:
1. Big Ideas
2. Slinky
3. Interaction Shift
4. Not Touching

Side B:
5. This Life May Be Monitored (for Quality Assurance)
6. Moon with a View
7. Something About the Dream
8. Quarter Past Stockton

Made from 100% recyclable vinyl alternative, PET, slipping the vinyl LP out of its sleeve, my fingers on the edges I gently spin it over and over a few times to get that lovely fresh vinyl smell into the air, before I put Side A down on the turntable, place the needle, and sit back to take in the first track: the richly confident Big Ideas is up first and is backed by a resplendent twang on Slinky, and then we get the furtively frenetic, yet admirably controlled Interaction Shift, the side rounding out on the smoothly ambient Not Touching.

Flipping the vinyl over for Side B, along next is the cinematically countrified This Life May Be Monitored (for Quality Assurance) which is itself backed by the front porch shindig-imbibed Moon with a View, the low slung, veritably shimmering at times Something About the Dream, the side ending on the deliciously jaunty Quarter Past Stockton.

Side C:
1. Nigel’s Dream
2. Oil Vein
3. Colored Shells
4. Closer to the Sky

Side D:
1. Helicopter
2. Backwards Over Bend
3. True South
4. Christina’s Song

Releasing the second vinyl LP from is inner sleeve, Side C then opens with the atmospherically-driven Nigel’s Dream and then along comes the thoughtful, all-embracing Oil Vein, the delicately hued, yet quietly strident Colored Shells is next, the side rounding out on the perky Closer to the Sky.

Flipping the LP over and dropping the needle back down on Side D, next up is the rhythmically melodic Helicopter and the infectiously-grooved Backwards Over Bend, the side, and the collection as a whole, coming to an end on the bright and breezy True South and the simply beautiful balladry of Christina’s Song.

Oil Vein LIVE 10-14-23 - Jack West & Curvature [Official Video]

Official Purchase Link