{"title":"Ota Records","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"essential-curvature","title":"Essential Curvature","description":"\u003cp\u003eBetween 1996 and 2003, Jack West released five remarkable albums with his evolving band Curvature. The recordings showcased West on 6 and 8-string acoustic guitar in small, acoustic ensembles including marimba, second acoustic guitar, saxophone, percussion, and pedal steel.\u003cem\u003e Essential Curvature\u003c\/em\u003e is a Best-Of Collection. Jack West’s music is a new genre of American acoustic music influenced by jazz, rock, folk, and funk, in equal measure - one that features extraordinary acoustic guitar playing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ota Records","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Clear","offer_id":55968300368203,"sku":"R9812-8678","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/201375087638.jpg?v=1763989069"},{"product_id":"guitars-on-life","title":"Guitars On Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"71\"\u003e\n\u003ccolgroup\u003e\u003ccol width=\"71\"\u003e\u003c\/colgroup\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr height=\"20\"\u003e\n\u003ctd height=\"20\" width=\"71\"\u003eGuitars On Life solves a nagging mystery about the fate of a musician who stood out as a singularly spectacular bloom even in the verdant creative\u003cbr\u003efields of the San Francisco Bay Area at the turn of the century. After more than two decades of recording silence and about a dozen years away from the bandstand, Jack West is back, still immediately recognizable as a guitarist and composer but miles from the last stop on his ongoing musical journey. There’s poetic symmetry in discovering that his detour from life as a performing musician involved fruitful work devising innovative solar technologies, as he had similarly distinguished himself as an inveterately inventive musician.\u003cbr\u003eWhen we last heard from West he’d carved out a vibrant niche as a guitarist with a percussive attack and lustrous group sound. Wielding a custom-built\u003cbr\u003eeight-string acoustic guitar with uncommon rhythmic dexterity, he released six albums featuring his original tunes, mostly recording with his band Curvature (though he also played mesmerizing solo recitals). West’s knack for crafting glistening, minutely detailed soundscapes full of surprising twists and oddly inviting textures prompted NPR to describe his work as “a whole new sub-\u003cbr\u003egenre of jazz.”\u003cbr\u003eDrawn back to performing in recent years, West saw guitarist Walter Strauss at Berkeley’s Freight \u0026amp; Salvage in 2022 and suspected he’d found a kindred\u003cbr\u003espirit. Intrigued by Strauss’s unusual approach to guitar, West “wondered what a musical conversation might sound like between two guitarists who\u003cbr\u003ehad developed such uniquely different ways of playing the instrument.” An invitation to play together led to them writing the tune ‘More Guitar,’ the bravura opening track that launches Guitars On Life. Several months later they spent a week in Florida together writing intensively, resulting in most of the material for this consistently thrilling project.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"71\"\u003e\n\u003ccolgroup\u003e\u003ccol width=\"71\"\u003e\u003c\/colgroup\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr height=\"20\"\u003e\n\u003ctd height=\"20\" width=\"71\"\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Ota Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":55968349552971,"sku":"R0353-8933","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/201375061389.jpg?v=1763989653"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/ota-records.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}