A really beautiful record by young Chilean pianist Enrique Rodriguez – a set that's got little more going on than piano and keyboards, but which really makes the most of those elements! Rodriguez plays in a style that's not entirely jazz – maybe more moody instrumentals with a slight bit of rhythm in the background, but always at a gentle pace – so that the tunes have a flow that's really driven by the keys, which sound equally great, whether acoustic or electric! Some tunes glow with a soundtrack theme style, others have a deeper soul vibe – and titles include "Chao", "Estamos Bien Aqui", "Una Pared", "Mantener El Arriba", "Ambos", "Lograr Decidirnos", "Lo Que Somos", and "Ni Siquiera Se Si Quiero Encontrarte". (Jazz, New Grooves) LP, Vinyl record album

The lovely vocals of Mari Boine are paired with the far-thinking production work of Bugge Wesseltoft, who also plays keyboards on the set. Bugge's presence makes for an album that's quite different than some of Mari's earlier work – a bit starker, and with less of the easy world production that's always kept us from enjoying her fully. That's not to say that the charms of earlier records are gone, or that the album's an all-out electronic affair that resembles Wesseltoft's own work – just to say that it's a strong blending of cultures with a really unique sound. Titles include "Liegga Gokcas", "Guovssahasaid Ajagattis", "Song For The Unborn", "Boadan Nuppi Bealde", and "Sarakha Vina". CD

One of the best club jazz combos we've heard from the Japanese scene to date – a group who's solidly jazz based, but who also hit a range of colors and tones that open up with the rhythms of some of their contemporaries! Native have a sound that comes across cool at first – laidback grooving with some pulsating drum work that sets the stage for freer improvisations on flute, sax, and guitar. Hiroki Shiihara recites a bit on a few tracks – but the real vocal charm of the record comes from the lovely female singer Tomoka Ito, who adds lyrics to 3 of the album's best tracks. The overall vibe is mostly instrumental, though – and the record does a really great job of keeping things jazzy without pushing the dancefloor side of the rhythms too much – making for a set that's almost equally a jazz record and a club set. Titles include "Circle Of Life", "Move 67", "Blanco", "Boilermaker", "Ever After", "Who Are You", "Asyl", "Fire Works", "Drum'n Go Go", and "Zoo". CD

The soulful second set from Quintessence – even better than their debut, and the kind of record that's sure to take the world by storm! The Finnish combo seem to have refined their sound even more – working in a cool, laidback groove that's got lots of sweet jazzy bits in the instrumentation – but which also comes across with an unabashedly strong crossover groove! Vocalist Emma Salokoski sounds especially lovely – singing in English with a really universal appeal – hardly what you'd expect from the icy north of Finland, and much more what we'd expect to hear from the London scene. Titles include "Delirious", "You Don't Care", "Burn On With A Bitter Flame", "Speciality", "Broken", "Dig Deeper", and "Friday". (Neo Soul, New Grooves) CD

A whole new groove for The Stance Brothers – every bit as funky as before, but with an added soul component as well! The lovely lady on the front cover is Johanna Forsti – aka Jo Stance – a vocalist with a sound that's got plenty of 60s soul modes overall – warm and smooth one minute, hard and raspy the next – giving the whole album the feel of a batch of lost singles from the late 60s US – particularly the more mod versions of soul that might have played big on the UK scene! All the best Stance grooves are firmly in place – augmented by trumpet from Jukka Eskola and saxes from Timo Lassy – and the shift to soul is a wonderful expansion in sound for the Ricky Tick label, who handle this mode as well as they do classic jazz. Titles include "Changes", "Sticky", "I'll Find You", "Until Tomorrow", "Treated", "Shout", "Stand Tall", "Me & You", and "Tell Me/Girls". CD