2004 Antonio Ciacca/Wessell Anderson Quartet at Kilbourn Hall were one of our favorite acts this year. We sat right down front. The natural sound of acoustic instruments in this hall is very special and this is our favorite venue. The only thing we knew about this band was the very brief blurb in the program, "Expect cutting edge jazz steeped in the tradition of the masters". This is exactly what was delivered.

Antonio Ciacca, the Italian pianist told the crowd how revered American jazz is in his country and reminded us all how lucky (or stupid) we are. Wessell Anderson, the sax player, lightened the mood with a story about his dog that would run away to the vet. He wrote a song about it. Thank God they got an encore because they played a new song by Ciacca that rivaled the best Kind Of Blue Miles.