Review by John Luciano
@-Quartet (At Quartet) is a very promising debut recording from a part-time musician and self-professed UZEB fan.
By day, Didier Verna is a computer researcher but he’s left the computers and synths at the office and has delivered a
very accessible acoustic album. @-Quartet is a great example of what contemporary jazz should be. It’s certainly not
smooth jazz. Although it’s acoustic, I have a hard time defining it as straight ahead and that’s the beauty of jazz, isn’t it?
These nine compositions are fresh, melodically challenging and engaging. Upon first listen a number of guitarists on
the scene came to mind, but Didier definitely has his own voice. Rather than fall into the comparison trap, I’d ask you to
take a chance on this very talented musician and make your own comparisons. Two tracks that really stood out for me
are "Les Maleties," which took me back to early Spyro Gyra, circa Morning Dance-Catching The Sun, for the
guitar piano interplay, and "Paris-Nice" which has a nice aggressive feel to it.
On the Web: DidierVerna.com; MySpace
Buy the download from iTunes!
