A great pairing, heard perfectly here – on titles that include "Show Type Tune", "Invitation", "Blue Serge", "Are You All The Things", and "Falling Grace". CD

Classic modernist jazz from the 50s, long out of print in the US, and issued here in a beautiful CD that includes a huge amount of tracks and good notes on the material! Half of the CD is a reissue of Warne Marsh's rare Jazz Of Two Cities album, a killer two-tenor workout with an icy cool feel, and Marsh and Ted Brown heading up the frontline. Compositions were contributed by Brown, and by Ronnie Ball, who plays piano on the album – and tracks include "Smog Eyes", "Ear Conditioning", "Dixie's Dilemma", and "Quintessence". The other half of the material is culled from Lennie Tristano's late 40's recordings for Capitol, sessions that are often cited as the birth of the cool jazz sound, and which feature key members of the Tristano school, like Lee Konitz, Billy Bauer, and Marsh – who gives some of his earliest recorded work on the tracks. Titles include "Intuition", "Digression", "Crosscurrent", and "Marionette". Beautifully haunting stuff, and material that we're very excited to see reissued again! CD

A very cool project from trombonist Ray Anderson – and a group that definitely lives up to its name! The Pocket Brass Band here is a unique quartet – one that features Ray on trombone, Lew Soloff on trumpet, and Matt Perinne on sousaphone – with just the drums of Bobby Previte for accompaniment! The sound is a really creative take on rootsier brass modes – almost a stripped down version of what you'd hear from the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – but also given more avant jazz touches at times, too – as you'd guess from Ray's pedigree. The sound is extremely evocative – especially on the core "Sweet Chicago Suite" – a really beautiful portrait in sound, with passages that include "High School", "Chicago Greys", "Going To Maxwell Street", and "Get To It". Other titles include "Next March" and "The Stingray Rag". CD

With Arthur Blythe on alto, Ron Carter on bass, and Bill Frisell on guitar! CD

One of the most successful jazz-meets-modern classical albums we've ever heard – thanks largely to the supreme talents of Don Cherry! Cherry leads the large New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra – which includes a large lineup of European free jazz musicians, with Peter Brotzmann, Tomasz Stanko, Manfred Schoof, Kenny Wheeler, Gunter Hampel, Willem Breuker, and Albert Manglesdorf – all conducted by Polish modern composer Krzystof Penderecki. Cherry plays mostly solo on his own composition "Humus", and other tracks include "Sita Rama Encores" (also by Cherry), and Penderecki's "Actions For Free Jazz Orchestra". CD

Vincent Le Quang on soprano sax, Emil Spanyl on piano, Stephane Kerecki on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. CD

Heinrich von Kalnein on alto and tenor saxophone and alto flute, Christian Bakanic on accordion, piano and Fender Rhodes, and Gregor Hilbe on drums, percission and electronics. CD

Sidemen include Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Till Bronner, and Joachim Kuhn. CD

Hans Ludemann on piano with Aly Keita on balaphone and Christian Thome on percussion. CD

An obscure late 80s session from Charlie Mariano – kind of an extension of his spacey fusion of the 70s, but with smoother 80s touches. The set was recorded in Germany, with lots of keyboard work by Mike Herting, who also arranged most of the tracks and produced the album with guitarist Paul Shigihara, who also plays on the record. There's none of the brilliance of earlier days, but Mariano does manage to get in a few nice licks – and titles include "Fourth Sun", "Al Hadji", "Daria", "Kalimba", "Pink Lady", and "The Path". CD

Features duets with Rabih Abou Khalil, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, and Arturo Tuncboyaciyan. CD

Ralph Towner on classical guitar, twelve-string guitar, piano, frame guitar, and synthesizer, Paul McCandless on oboe, English horn, soprano saxophone, sopranino saxophone, bass clarinet, and tin whistle, Glen Moore on bass, and Mark Walker on drums and percussion. CD

With Jerome Harris on acoustic guitar and bass and Samir Chatterjee on tabla, Goblet drum and percussion. CD

Elliott Sharp on guitar, console steel guitar, glissentar, and tenor saxophone – with Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, Alex Harding on baritone saxophone, David Hofstra on bass and tuba, and Tony Lewis on drums. CD

With Mike Mainieri on midi, synclavier and piano, Bendik on saxophones and keys, Steve Kahn on guitars, Tony Levin on bass, and Steve Smith on drums. CD

Barbara Thompson on saxophones and flute, Billy Thompson on violin, Peter Lemer on keyboards, Paul Westwood on bass guitar, and Jon Hiseman on drums. CD

... CD

Miroslav Vitous on bass, Gary Campbell on tenor saxophone, Robert Bonisolo on tenor and soprano saxophones, Aydin Esen on keyboards, and Roberto Gatto on drums. CD

A set that has some incredible interplay between the vibes of Walt Dickerson and bass of Richard Davis – both players who've already had a long resume of creative music by the time of this session, yet coming together here in ways that are completely new and fresh! Dickerson's often in the warmer side of his tones – still quite free at points, but never too obtuse – and always with plenty of room for the lovingly soulful sounds of Davis' bass. Titles include "Lucille", "Divine Gemini", "Always Positive", and "Her Intuition". CD

Jean Luc Ponty is in very tight formation here – continuing that nice shift to sparer grooves he made at the start of the 80s – when the more cluttered fusion modes of the 70s seemed a bit outdated! Most of the music here comes from keyboards and violin – usually in ways that are never too jamming, and which often hit a spacious kind of groove that mixes equal parts rock and jazz with a few newer soul influences. Guests include Chick Corea and George Benson, but most of the music is by Ponty himself – and titles include "Open Mind", "Watching Birds", "Solitude", "Modern Times Blues", "Orbital Encounters", and "Intuition". CD

Jean Luc Ponty is in very tight formation here – continuing that nice shift to sparer grooves he made at the start of the 80s – when the more cluttered fusion modes of the 70s seemed a bit outdated! Most of the music here comes from keyboards and violin – usually in ways that are never too jamming, and which often hit a spacious kind of groove that mixes equal parts rock and jazz with a few newer soul influences. Guests include Chick Corea and George Benson, but most of the music is by Ponty himself – and titles include "Open Mind", "Watching Birds", "Solitude", "Modern Times Blues", "Orbital Encounters", and "Intuition". LP, Vinyl record album

Although this set was issued in the 70s, it features some excellent rare early work by Tristano, originally recorded for Capitol in 1949. The material features a core of his early devotees – Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, and Billy Bauer – and the selection of tracks includes 2 especially amazing tracks – "Intuition" and "Digression" – both of which were freely improvised in the studio during recording! Along with the other material in the set – "Yesterdays", "Wow", "Sax Of A Kind", and "Maironette" – the record's an essential one for any Tristano fan. The other side of the record features some slightly modernist stuff by Buddy DeFranco, and titles on that stuff include "Bird In Igor's Yard", "Extrovert", and "Aishie". LP, Vinyl record album