After showing off his edgy, aggressive side in a live setting on the recent Ablaze In Orlando, Ken Navarro gets back to his trademark, free-spirited and plucky (mostly) acoustic-guitar ways on In My Wildest Dreams (Positive Music). One of the genre's most consistent purveyors of instantly catchy tunes and swaying funk rhythms, Navarro mostly keeps the melodies sunny here. They are deployed over rhythmic bases that range from slow, grooving hip-hop to more throbbing bass-drum foundations created by Gary and GregGrainger respectively. He waits till track nine to really turn up the heat, and then rewards our patience with the pounding, Marcus Miller-like throb of "Sky Fi," on which a swinging Navarro modulates his nylon to sound like a steel string. Meanwhile, Eric Marienthal goes crazy on alto as Grainger's crunchy percussion bounces underneath. Navarro's longtime keyboardist, Jay Rowe, dashes off several beautiful piano solos, but has even more fun creating a simmering blues-organ sheen on the retro-soul-flavored "Street Smarts."

Copyright, Milor Entertainment, Inc. 1999