Leslie Pintchik on piano, Scott Hardy on bass, and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion. CD

Features guest alto from Steve Wilson! CD

Features Eric Alexander on tenor, Jim Rotondi on trumpet, Steve Davis on trombone, David Hazeltine on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums! CD

Leslie Pintchik on piano, Scott Hardy on bass, and Michael Sarin on drums. CD

Michael Bisio on bass, Rob Blakeslee on trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn, Jim Nolet on viola, Bob Nell on piano, and Ed Pias on drums. CD

David Leon on reeds & piccolo, DoYeon on gayagum & voice, and Lesley Mok on percussion & glockenspiel. CD

Gerald Albright's not really one to push the envelope – at least not in the way you'd expect from more progressive jazzmen – but this set is still right on the money for Gerald, and very much in the soul-drenched territory that's kept him high in the charts for years! Albright's got help on the record from some classic soul jazz heavyweights – including Earl Klugh, Fred Wesley, and George Duke, who each guest on a track apiece – but it's Gerald's horn that's still the most winning element here, wrapped up in some relatively lean backings with a smooth variant on funk at the bottom. Titles include "Get On the Floor", "Bobo's Groove", "What Would James Do", "Capetown Strut", "Close To You", "Embrace The Spirit", and "Highway 70". CD

With Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Don Pullen, Bootsy Collins, and others. (Soul, Jazz) CD

A very unusual moment from the mighty Bernie Worrell – the keyboardist that most folks know for his work as part of the P-Funk universe of George Clinton – stepping out here on an early 90s album done in collaboration with producer Bill Laswell! Like most of Laswell's other projects around the time, there's a spirit here that's not only genre-busting, but also aimed towards some of the more unusual possibilities of collaboration – at a level that has Bernie working with talents from soul, funk, jazz, and some other styles too – a lineup that includes Amina Claudine Myers, Fred Wesley, Marty Erlich, Umar Bin Hassan, Buckethead, and Vincent Chancey – all coming together in musical modes that are very different than Bernie's best-known solo album from the early 80s. There's a very dark spirit here at times – that layered sound that Laswell did so well – but mixed with these other moments that have a surprising sense of jazz majesty – almost with the spiritual core of a Bill Lee soundtrack. Titles include "The Mask", "Moon Over Brixton", "Witness For The Defense", "Set The Tone/Victory", "Gladiator Skull", and "Fields Of Play". (Soul, Jazz) CD

A very tight early session by the great organist Larry Young! The album's quite different than Young's later Blue Note work – more in-the-pocket soul jazz, but filled with the expansive sensibility that would later have him take off for the heavens. The biggest example of this tendency is the track "Talking Bout JC" – a cut dedicated to John Coltrane (who Young used to jam with, although sadly never on record!), recorded more famously later on Blue Note, but still sounding pretty hip here in an early take. The group on the set is a quartet that includes guitarist Thornel Schwartz and tenorist Bill Leslie (with whom he cut an album for Argo, under the name of Lawrence Olds) – and other tracks include "Gettin' Into It" (which is 15 minutes long) and "Groove Street". CD

Nat King Cole as a leader and a sideman – incredible material from 1936-1946 – featuring the King Cole Trio, side work with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers, Dexter Gordon, The Keynoters and The Lester Young Trio! There's a number of great tunes here with Nat singing, but also a whole bunch of recordings that shine a light on his impeccable work as a group piano player of the finest caliber, working as Nat King Cole and under some funny pseudonyms while he was recording hits for Capitol! Packaged stunningly, even by Hip-O Select Standards – essentially housing the CDs in a hardcover book of 31-pages with an essay by David Ritz, 7 3/8" square package with detailed session notes, and beautifully reproduced art work from original 78s and 10-inch LPs! Disc one features 17 tracks by the King Cole Trio with Nat singing and at the piano, with Oscar Moore on guitar and and Wesley Prince on bass: "Sweet Lorraine", "This Side Up", "Babs", "Scotchin' With The Soda", "Slow Down", "Hit That Jive, Jack" and more. Disc one also includes 5 tracks with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers, with Nat on piano, Eddie Cole on bass, Kenneth Roane on trumpet, Tommy Thompson on saxes and Jimmy Adams on drums:" Honey Hush" (with Eddie on vocals) plus an alternate take, "Thunder", "Stompin' At The Panama" and "(Bedtime) Sleep, Baby Sleep". Last up on disc one, four tracks by the Keynoters with Willie Smith on alto, Nat as Lord Calvert on piano, Red Callender on bass and Jackie Mills on drums: "The Way You Look Tonight", "My Old Flame" and more. Disc 2 is comprised of Jazz At The Philharmonic: Los Angeles, July 1944, with collective personal including Nat as Shorty Nadine on piano and singing on "Sweet Lorraine", Shorty Sherlock on trumpet, JJ Johnson on trombone, Illinois Jacquet and Jack McVea on tenor, Red Callender on bass, Lee Young on drums, and Carolyn Richards singing on "The Man I Love". Other titles include "Blues", "Tea For Two", "Rosetta", "Bugle Call Rag", "Oh, Lady, Be Good!" and more. Disc 3 starts with 1943/44 material by Dexter Gordon's group featuring Nat on piano, Sweets Edison on trumpet, Gordon on tenor, Red Callender or Johnny Miller on bass and Clifford Owens on drums: "I've Found A New Baby", "I Blowed And Gone" and more. That's followed by Lester Young Trio material of similar vintage with Nat as Aye Guy on piano, Young on Tenor and Buddy Rich on drums: "I Cover The Water Front", "The Man I Love", "Peg Of My Heart" and more. Last, but not least, Keynoters alternate takes including "The You You Look Tonight", "Airiness A La Nat" and "I can't Believe That You're In Love With Me". (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

Vyacheslav Ganelin on drums, percussion, synthesizer, piano, Atari 1040 ST, Korg MI, and Proteus 2. CD

Some of the hippest work we've ever heard from German clarinetist Rolf Kuhn – a beautiful set from the 60s, and one that's filled with modern touches, but never goes too far out! Rolf's clarinet is definitely sharper here than in the decade before – informed by much of the modern jazz changes around him, and stretching out in space that's nicely open, and often moved along with some modal rhythms on the bottom. As with some of his other European contemporaries, Kuhn manages to use the instrument in completely new ways than before – no trad jazz clarinet lines that echo Benny Goodman's generation – and instead, an extremely evocative sound that often carries some nicely exotic overtones. The rest of the group's great too – and includes brother Joachim Kuhn on piano, Michal Urbaniak on tenor and soprano sax, and Czeslaw Bartkowski on drums. Titles include "Lady Orsina", "Mountain Jump", "Minor Impressions", "Solarius", and "Soldat Tadeusz". CD

Features George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Fred Wesley – plus Tony Williams and Sly Dunbar! (Soul, Jazz) CD

Bob Moses and Ben Wittman on drums, Tisziji Munos on guitar, John Lockwood and Wesley Wirth on bass, Brad Hatfield on keyboards, John Medeski on piano, and George Garzone and Jerry Bergonzi on saxophone. CD

With Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Don Pullen, Bootsy Collins, and others. (Soul, Jazz) CD