Silenciosa

Silenciosa is the solo debut album from San Francisco sideman George Cotsirilos. He opts to use the classical guitar with nylon strings here a lá Charlie Byrd to give the album a nice dimension of warmth throughout. The set is taken up entirely by standards, which actually ends up suiting the performance quite well, combining familiar sounds with the lightness of the nylon strings. The work opens up with a Rodgers and Hart number before moving through "Blame It On My Youth," and "Just Friends." A nice piece by Victor Young follows, and then a number from Sir Duke. The title track is a traditional Mexican song, played here with an almost pensive feeling. As the album moves forward, standard after standard is visited, each song fitted into the careful melodic structures of Cotsirilos' playing and improvisation. The songs meld into one another seamlessly enough that one hardly notices the changes from track to track. As such, there isn't really a single highlight to be heard. But instead a full album of good music, it's more of an ambient album to be heard in the background, instead of an album to be listened to intently on its own. That said, it still stands up well on its own. For the crossroads of classical performance and jazz standards, this album is a nice pick, bridging the gap pretty well.