“Every Thursday is “Live Unsigned Night,” with the opening act for Allan Holdsworth being the impressive Ruben Reza, who picked his Fender along with Ruben Rosas/key, Bill Diaz/b and Adam Ponce/dr through a tasty half hour of songs that ranged from fusion to salsa to good old blues. Reza had a clean and impressive approach to his solos, not showing flashy, but emphasizing taste and style over vociferous chops. Rosas’ keyboard work was impressive on the gospel-ish track, and Diaz’s bass line delivered some sleek bop lines which Reza danced over like a stone over a lake. Sign this guy up!”

“All musicians would like to consider themselves versatile. It is an overused description in the recording industry. But California-bred guitarist Ruben Reza emphatically defines the term. His current offering, “iOpener”, is not only a musical revelation, it is remarkably unique in that one would actually be hard pressed to believe that all four tracks feature the same artist. Reza not only changes his tone and style from song to song, he literally speaks in a different musical language. He kicks off with the aptly titled “Opener”, three minutes of controlled mayhem. Next is the equally impressive “Serenata Di Roxanna”, with blistering flamenco-flavored guitar work. Reza travels down yet another path with the blues vamp “Lizard”, before closing with “My Love”. This is the most heartfelt track, a smooth jazz piece that is a definitive storyteller. Sometimes, a four song releases raise more questions than answers. Question: Is there anything Ruben Reza can’t play?”