Zack Danziger's debut CD Sun Is All We Need often gives you the urge run playfully around a department store chasing a boyfriend or girlfriend as if you were in a made-for-TV montage. You picture the two of you sliding down escalator railings past startled old ladies with bags, darting hither and thither between the racks in the underwear section, comically spraying too much sampler in your face at the perfume counter and making funny faces at each other behind a crowd of unsuspecting shoppers standing in front of you in the elevator. It has a very Muzak, "smooth jazz" feel at times, both vocally and instrumentally. That said, beneath this layer of taffy lies some subtle, detail-oriented guitar work that's worthy of top-tier fusion players like Pat Metheny, Jeff Beck or Adrian Belew. A few of the gentler arpeggios even sound like they could be on a Radiohead album.
Some of the disc is fairly traditional-sounding, mid-20th century jazz, which showcases the backing players' considerable abilities. The flutes and saxophones are mighty impressive, though their nuances sometimes get lost in copious amounts of reverb that (unfortunately) recall the anathematic Kenny G. Piano parts resonate in a space that's somewhere between Broadway theater and Marseilles wine bar; bass lines saunter like a bow-legged vacuum cleaner salesman approaching your front door with a confidence you can't help but be suspicious of, and the drums just swing, daddy.
There's a lot of '60s sound going on here, too—some pre-fusion jazz-pop that one might have heard on the Mary Tyler Moore show or in a glitzy Las Vegas ballroom, maybe even in one of those Austin Powers-style Peter Sellers movies like What's New, Pussycat? Some of the tracks fall into Latin-esque feels, and others pedal on relaxed, brushed snare drum grooves. Layering dry, unison vocals, a doubling technique that's become popular again since the '90s recordings of artists like Beck and Elliot Smith, works very well on the softly sung melodies that prevail on the album. Lyrical content on these numbers is suitably cosmic.
Zack Danziger hosts a regular music series most Mondays and Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. at Side Street Cafe in Florence that features a different guest artist each night.
