Kris Davis on piano, Val Jeanty on electronics, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Trevor Dunn on acoustic and electric bass, Esperanza Spalding on vocals, Nels Cline and Marc Ribot on guitar, Tony Malaby and JD Allen on saxophones, and Ches Smith on vibraphone. CD

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Kris Davis on piano, Tony Malaby on saxophone, Eivind Opsvik on bass and Jeff Davis on drums. CD

Kris Davis on piano, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor saxophone, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. CD

Kris Davis on piano, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor and soprano saxophone, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums, melodia and trombone. CD

Guitarist Julian Lage is working here with a slightly expanded group, yet still comes across with a sound that's as warm and intimate as some of his previous material! The core trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave Kings on drums is expanded with the addition of Levon Henry on saxes, Patrick Warren on keyboards, and Kris Davis on piano – elements that are often used in loose, spare ways – so that Lage's work on the strings is always center stage, and maybe captured with a moody vibe that's partly ECM, but with some of the Americanist leanings of projects from Bill Frisell in the phrasing. Titles include "Myself Around You", "Northern Shuffle", "Omission", "South Mountain", "Speak To Me", "Two & One", "Vanishing Points", "As It Were", "76", and "Nothing Happens Here". LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Julian Lage is working here with a slightly expanded group, yet still comes across with a sound that's as warm and intimate as some of his previous material! The core trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave Kings on drums is expanded with the addition of Levon Henry on saxes, Patrick Warren on keyboards, and Kris Davis on piano – elements that are often used in loose, spare ways – so that Lage's work on the strings is always center stage, and maybe captured with a moody vibe that's partly ECM, but with some of the Americanist leanings of projects from Bill Frisell in the phrasing. Titles include "Myself Around You", "Northern Shuffle", "Omission", "South Mountain", "Speak To Me", "Two & One", "Vanishing Points", "As It Were", "76", and "Nothing Happens Here". LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Julian Lage is working here with a slightly expanded group, yet still comes across with a sound that's as warm and intimate as some of his previous material! The core trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave Kings on drums is expanded with the addition of Levon Henry on saxes, Patrick Warren on keyboards, and Kris Davis on piano – elements that are often used in loose, spare ways – so that Lage's work on the strings is always center stage, and maybe captured with a moody vibe that's partly ECM, but with some of the Americanist leanings of projects from Bill Frisell in the phrasing. Titles include "Myself Around You", "Northern Shuffle", "Omission", "South Mountain", "Speak To Me", "Two & One", "Vanishing Points", "As It Were", "76", and "Nothing Happens Here". CD

Includes performances by Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Sly & The Family Stone, Ten Years After, Miles Davis, Mountain, Kris Kristofferson, Mountain, Allman Brothers, Poco, Procol Harum, Chambers Brothers, Cactus, Leonard Cohen, and David Bromberg. LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful record from Rob Mazurek – and one of his most different recordings in years! The set's a quartet date, recorded live – and has especially strong input from Kris Davis, who plays both piano and prepared piano – using the acoustic instrument to inflect the music of Mazurek in a really different way! Also great is bassist Ingegbrigt Haker Flaten – always a great presence, but maybe more conventionally swinging at times here than usual, if that's possible. Although the bass may well be driven strongly by the drums of Chad Taylor – a longtime partner of Rob's, but also really showing the growth he's experienced since their more frequent projects from ten to twenty years back. Mazurek himself is almost understated, but in a way that lets the whole group work strongly as a whole – and Rob plays piccolo, trumpet, and modular synth! CD

Michael Musillami on guitar – with Jimmy Greene on tenor saxophone, Mark Feldman on violin, Kris Davis on piano, Joe Fonda on bass, and George Schuller on drums. CD

Eric Revis on double bass, Kris Davis on piano, and Andrew Cyrille on drums. CD

Soloists include Mary Halvorseon on guitar, Kris Davis on piano, Nate Wooley on trumpet, and Ingrid Laubrock on saxophone. CD

The bass of Eric Revis sounds better than we ever remember – and that's saying a lot, because we've really liked his other records too! Yet here, it almost feels like Revis is out to re-state himself as a musician – coming on strong with a tone that could put him up there with the giants of earlier years – and beautifully matched with drummer Chad Taylor, who's always been an amazing example of that rare quality of being tight and loose at the same time! Ken Vandermark blows tenor and clarinet – but in a way that really seems to respect the path taken by Revis and Taylor – as does the piano of Kris Davis, which punctuates the sound perfectly. Titles include "Sing Me Some Cry", "PT 44", "Good Company", "Rye Eclipse", "Rumples", and "Drunkard's Lullaby". CD

A wonderful testament to the mindblowing collaborative powers of reedman Ken Vandermark – one of the most consistently creative saxophonists of the past few decades, and a spirit with a heart that's as big as his music! Ken's a wonder by himself, but one of the things that's always really impressed us is his strong ear for others – which includes not just fellow jazz musicians, but also decades of sounds in other styles too. Here, Vandermark displays his strong sensitivity towards five key contemporaries – in a box set that features different duets on each CD! The set features one album each of improvisations with Paul Lytton on drums and percussion, Ikue Mori on laptop and electronics, Kris Davis on piano, William Parker on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion – and Ken is mindblowing throughout, with an incredible ear for his partners, delivered over a number of different reed instruments. Box set also features great notes from Vandermark – who's also a hell of a writer, too! CD

A brilliant series of creative performances pulled from Option – a weekly music salon hosted organized by Chicago avant jazz talents Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, and Andrew Clinkman – featuring contributions from some of their greatest contemporaries, and a few older legends too! Most of the material here is free improvisation, but the scope is also nicely wide – with a mix of elements that really keeps things interesting, and which also makes for a hell of a double-length record, even if you don't care at all about the weekly event! The set features performances by Susan Alcorn on steel guitar, Wayne Horvitz on piano with Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon, Ladonna Smith on violin and vocals, Havard Wilk on piano, Gerry Hemingway on percussion and electronics, Lou Mallozzi on electronics and turntables with Douglas Ewart on reeds and percussion, Greg Kelly on trumpet, Bonnie Jones on electronics, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor, Kris Davis on piano, Sandy Ewen on guitar, Louise Dam Eckerdt Jensen on alto and Kent Kessler on bass, and the trio of Booker Stardrum on percussion, Beth McDonald on tuba, and Dave Rempis on alto. CD

Music from Jon Davison & Patrick Moraz, Steve Hogarth & Larry Fast, Annie Haslam, David Sancious & Steve Stevens, Sonja Kristina, Steve Porcaro & Steve Hackett, Jon Davison & Tony Kaye, Nikki Squire & Dweezil Zappa, Candice Night & Brian Auger, and more. CD

A killer record – one with some great modal tracks! Unlike Tony Scott's other LPs on Verve, which feature some extended meditative tracks with more Eastern instrumentation than jazz, this one's got a great blend of Scott's two sides, and some shorter tracks that are really nice groovers, with off-kilter solos on instruments like oud, sitar, and clarinet that give the set a really groovy feel. The best cuts have a sort of Coltraney modal feel, but there's also some cuts with an organ, and one duet between Scott and Richard Davis. Tracks include "Nina Dance", "Ode To An Oud", "Homage To Lord Krishna", "Swara Sulina", "Sophisticated Lady" and "Blues For Charlie Parker". CD

Bob Frankich & Ian Nevins on alto saxophone, Kurt Berg on baritone saxophone, Jeff Hill on bass, Mike Meyers on bass trombone, Mark Walker on drums, Karl Montzka on piano, Brian Budzik & Mark Colby on tenor saxophone, Antonio Garcia, Brian Jacobi, Dan Johnson & Jack Schmidt on trombone, Art Davis, Carey Deadman, Mike McGrath, Rob Parton & Scott Wagstaff on trumpet & Kristy Smith on vocals. CD

Bob Parton on lead trumpet, Art Davis, Joey Tartall, Mike McGrath, Scott Wagstaff, and Vincent DiMartino on trumpet, Antonio J Garcia, Brian Jacobi, Craig Sunkin, Jack Schmidt, and Tom Matta on trombone, Bob Frankich, Bob Reszutko, Brian Budzik, Kurt Berg, and Mark Colby on saxophone, Deanna Witkowski on piano, Paul Martin on bass, Tom Hipskind on drums, with vocals from Kristy Parton. CD