A beautiful take on the compositions of Milton Nasicmento – performed by guitarist Ricardo Silveira and pianist Luiz Avellar. Given the majesty and ambitious production styles often used with Nascimento's own recordings of his tunes, this stripped-down set is a very different take on the material – one that gets at the deeply personal spirit of the tunes, and which moves past the original lyrics into some introspective musical territory. We're surprised at how much we like the results, and we really enjoy the album's versions of "Para Lennon E McCartney", "Vera Cruz", "Cravo E Canela", "Travessia", and "Nuvem Cigana". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

Almost a continuation of music made a few decades before by the team of Darol Anger and Mike Marshall – but recorded with a depth and sensitivity that goes beyond their greater fame in the 80s instrumental acoustic years! The woodshop in the title is a good reference – as the rich tones of Angers violin and Marshall's mandolin and guitar are captured beautifully here – an American acoustic mode that has traces of jazz and folksier elements, all supported by light rhythm on most numbers. Titles include "Peter Pan", "Borealis", "Who Had Whom", "Slip & Slide", "The Creep", "Hearts Wait", and "The Unbearable Gift". CD

Kind of a silly name, but a really great group – and one without any of the hoke you might expect! The sound is definitely what's promised, a meeting of samba rhythms and older American jazz – but there's a breezy sort of warmth to the record that's light years from standard boogie woogie – much more in the warmest territory that you'd find in Brazilian jazz from the 70s onwards! The tunes are mostly older Brazilian numbers, and they've got a slight hint of nostalgia – but one that's very small, and flavored more by the younger energy of the musicians and singers in the project. Vocalists include Monica Salmaso, Roberto Sa, Mario Adnet, Ze Renato, and Maucha Adnet – and arrangements are by Mario Adnet, and mostly feature small combo jazz instrumentation. Titles include "Adeus America", "O Trombone Do Tribuza", "Brasil Pandeiro", "Tintim Por Tintim", "Conversa De Samba", "Baiana No Harlem", "Boogie Woogie Do Rato", "Eu Quero Um Samba", "Morena Faceira", and "Nada De Rock Rock". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

A great follow-up to the first Jobim Jazz set from guitarist Mario Adnet – and in many ways, an even better-conceived version of the project! The difference this time around is that Adnet's been working through the concept in a live setting for a few years – and has come up with wonderfully rich arrangements that really push beyond any simple bossa remake sort of vibe – and instead show up the rich, complicated qualities that we've always loved in the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim – especially in the 70s years of his career! Adnet mostly plays acoustic guitar, but other instrumentation is full with horns – usually flutes and saxes that are intertwined beautifully, with a dipping, soaring sort of energy – not unlike some of the best arrangements by Moacir Santos. Titles include "Takatanga", "Mojave", "Boto", "Bonita", "O Homem", "O Barbinha Branca", "Samba De Maria Luiza", and "Deus E O Diablo Na Terra Do Sol". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

The always entertaining Sauter - Finegan Orchestra presents us with a percussion-oriented record that lapses into slightly "experimental" moments. One of the tracks, "The Minute," is a poem read by Ruth Yorke while the musicians provide some mood music. Each song gets its own unique description on the back cover. Titles include "A Chinese Painting," "Kinetic Energy," "World Without Time," "The Stone Age," and "The Jukes Family Takes A Holiday." (Now Sound, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A never-issued live set from Japanese pianist Ryo Fukui – a tremendous player who was part of a special new generation of piano players in the 70s – very warm and fluid, but always with a sense of adventure too – in ways that make music like this very different than American work of the time! All tracks are nice and long, and Fukui begins the set with his classic "Mellow Dream" – spun out in an extended take with superb accompaniment from Satoshi Denpo on bass and Yoshinori Fukui on drums. As with so many of Ryo's recordings, the vibe here is far past a simple standard trio setting – as you'll hear on the group's inventive readings of titles that include "Mr PC", "Speak Low", "Body & Soul", and "Love For Sale". LP, Vinyl record album

Space seemed to be a logical direction for Lenny White to go – since his high-powered fusion drumming style is enough to power him right out of the galaxy! This album's a hard heavy batch of funky fusion tunes – with lots of hard drums by Lenny, and spacey spacey keyboards by the great Don Blackman! Patrick Gleeson had a hand in some of the synthesizer work, and he gives the album a similar astral sound to the work he did on the Mercury label at the same time. There's a lot of guitars in the lead, but they sound pretty nice next to Lenny's heavy drums – and titles include "Heavy Metal Monster", "Assault", "Climax", "Universal Love", "The Great Pyramid", and "Remembering". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those records that just makes us say "wow" right from the very first note – a perfect showcase for all musicians involved, and a really mighty meeting of the creative minds! We've really loved the strong return to form that Matthew Shipp has given us on piano in recent years – and of course, the basswork of William Parker is always tremendous – but they both somehow rise even more to the top alongside the drums of Gerald Cleaver and reeds of Daniel Carter – in a session that's wonderfully spiritual, very rhythmic, and often quite straight at times! There's a balance between the avant impulses of the players and the collective action of the group – almost recalling the loft jazz years, but more contemporarily righteous too – and this second volume features titles that include "Wordwide", "Mask Production", "Da Rest Is Story", and "Blinking Down". CD

One of those records that just makes us say "wow" right from the very first note – a perfect showcase for all musicians involved, and a really mighty meeting of the creative minds! We've really loved the strong return to form that Matthew Shipp has given us on piano in recent years – and of course, the basswork of William Parker is always tremendous – but they both somehow rise even more to the top alongside the drums of Gerald Cleaver and reeds of Daniel Carter – in a session that's wonderfully spiritual, very rhythmic, and often quite straight at times! There's a balance between the avant impulses of the players and the collective action of the group – almost recalling the loft jazz years, but more contemporarily righteous too – and this second volume features titles that include "Wordwide", "Mask Production", "Da Rest Is Story", and "Blinking Down". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those records that just makes us say "wow" right from the very first note – a perfect showcase for all musicians involved, and a really mighty meeting of the creative minds! We've really loved the strong return to form that Matthew Shipp has given us on piano in recent years – and of course, the basswork of William Parker is always tremendous – but they both somehow rise even more to the top alongside the drums of Gerald Cleaver and tenor, trumpet, and flute of Daniel Carter – in a session that's wonderfully spiritual, very rhythmic, and often quite straight at times! There's a balance between the avant impulses of the players and the collective action of the group – almost recalling the loft jazz years, but more contemporarily righteous too – on titles that include "Majestic Travel Agency", "Scintillate", and "Ear-Regularities". CD

One of those records that just makes us say "wow" right from the very first note – a perfect showcase for all musicians involved, and a really mighty meeting of the creative minds! We've really loved the strong return to form that Matthew Shipp has given us on piano in recent years – and of course, the basswork of William Parker is always tremendous – but they both somehow rise even more to the top alongside the drums of Gerald Cleaver and reeds of Daniel Carter – in a session that's wonderfully spiritual, very rhythmic, and often quite straight at times! There's a balance between the avant impulses of the players and the collective action of the group – almost recalling the loft jazz years, but more contemporarily righteous too – and this second volume features titles that include "Wordwide", "Mask Production", "Da Rest Is Story", and "Blinking Down". CD

One of those records that just makes us say "wow" right from the very first note – a perfect showcase for all musicians involved, and a really mighty meeting of the creative minds! We've really loved the strong return to form that Matthew Shipp has given us on piano in recent years – and of course, the basswork of William Parker is always tremendous – but they both somehow rise even more to the top alongside the drums of Gerald Cleaver and tenor, trumpet, and flute of Daniel Carter – in a session that's wonderfully spiritual, very rhythmic, and often quite straight at times! There's a balance between the avant impulses of the players and the collective action of the group – almost recalling the loft jazz years, but more contemporarily righteous too – on titles that include "Majestic Travel Agency", "Scintillate", and "Ear-Regularities". CD

One of the coolest, grooviest albums ever cut by Mel Henke – a set that's "architecturally constructed to induce the maximum in audio sensation"! The set's one in the very cool stereo workshop series from Warner – and features sound maps of the recordings, and even some cool sound effects mixed with the music! (Now Sound, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from Clifford Jordan – proof that the 70s were possibly the greatest decade for his music! Although most of Jordan's contemporaries from the big tenor days of the 50s really didn't grow much during the 70s, Clifford always continued to develop his style – adding in modes and tones that he'd never played before, working in an ever rich tapestry of jazz that makes just about any of his albums from the time a delight. Even this session – a simple quartet date recorded with Tommy Flanagan, Bill Lee, and Grady Tate – offers lots of wonderful moments, and is kind of a post-righteous 70s soul jazz album, filled with lots of warm tones and straight soulful playing that are almost a back to earth moment after his Strata East years – but still equally expressive. Titles include "He's A Hero", "No More", "Quasimodo", and "Adventurer". LP, Vinyl record album

There's a vampire with a flute on the cover – and that image alone is more than enough to make us drop the needle on this rare Japanese gem from the 70s! And fortunately, the sound of the music is equally cool – funky fusion with some nicely spacey currents – almost a Mizell Brothers vibe at points, in the way elements can swirl around in the mix, and attain this wonderfully full power without ever sounding too commercial at all! There's definitely some of that flute on the record, but the keyboards are maybe even cooler – as is all the electric instrumentation, which comes together in a sublime way! Titles include "Gokumontou", "Kamen Butokai", "Yasuhakamura", "Kindaichi Kosuke No Theme", "Mitsukubitou", and "Meirosou No Sangeki". (Japanese, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Nothing too mad from reedman John Klemmer – but a set that nicely continues that spacey sound that Klemmer first created at Impulse Records, then moved into some warmer, more soulful territory on records like this! Klemmer's still got an incredibly strong sound on tenor – rich and full, and never held back at all – nor prone to some of the more gimmicky flourishes of some of his mainstream contemporaries – and the setting is never too slick or overdone, which seems to suit John just right! Keyboards work nicely in a mellow, spaced-out groove – and Klemmer crackles these effortless lines out in space – of the soulful style we first fell in love with on his earliest work for Chess. The set features guitar from John Tropea, keyboards from Don Grusin, and drums from Harvey Mason – and Klemmer even vocalizes a bit – in a surprisingly strong style for the music. Titles include "Magnificent Madness", "Deja Vu", "Lifesong", "Adventures In Paradise", "I Can't Help It", and "Don't Take Your Love Away". LP, Vinyl record album