Ken Navarro - Brighter Days (1995)

Maryland guitarist Ken Navarro and his independent label, Positive Music, have shouldered their way in among the Larry Carltons and GRPs of the world to become major players in the pop-instrumental field. Not only have Navarro's own albums consistently landed in the top 10 of the "adult alternative" and "new adult contemporary" charts, but so have those of his labelmates Gregg Karukas and Bobby Militello. Navarro's sixth solo album, "Brighter Days," is a further refinement of his label's successful formula: bright, easily digestible pop melodies played cleanly and precisely over steady, comfortable rhythms. This recording features the presence of Positive Music's saxophonist Brandon Fields, who adds a slightly different spin to Navarro's melodies in easy-going, Najee-like lines. Navarro himself plays nylon-string guitar on 6 of the 10 cuts, lending a delicate, Earl Klugh-like feel to the proceedings. --Geoffrey Himes

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