With Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, Kenny Kirkland and Tommy Flanagan on piano, Dave Holland and Buster Williams on bass and Daniel Humair on drums. CD

A hell of a trumpeter, with a hell of a group – heard here live at the Blue Note in New York, with a very open, freewheeling vibe! Franco Ambrosetti is a player who can sometimes be very much involved with the concept of a project – so much so that we sometimes forget that at the core, he's just a great jazz musician in an old school mode – one who's interacting here wonderfully with a group that includes Seamus Blake on tenor, Kenny Barron on piano, Ira Coleman on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums! The rhythm section is especially great – and really seems to set the right tone for the set – and the tracks are all quite long, and titles include "Phantoms", "Voyage", "Blues N Dues Et Cetera", and "Just Friends". CD

With John Scofield on guitar, Geri Allen on keys, Michael Formanek on bass, Daniel Humair on drums, and Jerry Gonzalez on percussion. LP, Vinyl record album

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An excellent MPS big-band session, in a mode that's sort of a mix between the firey hardbop of the Clarke-Boland ensemble, and the more modernist work of George Gruntz. The band is directed by Gruntz – and is co-led by Gruntz, Franco Ambrosetti, Flavio Ambrosetti, and Daniel Humair. The players are a mix of top-notch Americans and Europeans – also in the Clarke-Boland mode – and include Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw, Dusko Goykovich, Benny Bailey, Virgil Jones, Ake Persson, Herb Geller, and Sahib Shihab. Tracks are all long originals, with a hard driving style that's a mix of modal jazz and hardbop – with slight touches of funkiness, thanks to some Fender Rhodes work by Gruntz. Titles include "Our Suite Dig", "Witch Stich", "Gravenstein", "Saint Charity", and "The Age Of Prominence". LP, Vinyl record album

That's "heart bop", not "hardbop" – a title that really gets at the warm feeling and sense of soul on this overlooked date! The album's an early 80s gem from Enja – cut at a time when the label was really finding its own, and doing an especially great job of giving musicians just the right sort of outlet to move forward – in this case not just trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti, but also altoist Phil Woods and pianist Hal Galper – all of whom are great! There's an angular formation to most of the tunes at the start, but they flow with a warm, lyrical energy right from the start as well – supported by the drums of Billy Hart and bass of Mike Richmond – on titles that include "A Flat Miner", "Fairy Boat To Go", "Heart Bop", and "Triple Play". LP, Vinyl record album

With Greg Osby on alto saxophone. CD

A hell of a trumpeter, with a hell of a group – heard here live at the Blue Note in New York, with a very open, freewheeling vibe! Franco Ambrosetti is a player who can sometimes be very much involved with the concept of a project – so much so that we sometimes forget that at the core, he's just a great jazz musician in an old school mode – one who's interacting here wonderfully with a group that includes Seamus Blake on tenor, Kenny Barron on piano, Ira Coleman on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums! The rhythm section is especially great – and really seems to set the right tone for the set – and the tracks are all quite long, and titles include "Phantoms", "Voyage", "Blues N Dues Et Cetera", and "Just Friends". CD features the bonus track "Franco's Delight". CD

A genius meeting of talents on late 60s MPS – as George Gruntz leads a group of drummers and percussionists that includes Charly Antolini, Daniel Humair, Pierre Favre, Mani Neumeier, and Alfred Sacher – alongside tenor and soprano from the great Nathan Davis, plus trumpet from Franco Ambrosetti and bass from Jimmy Woode! The set also features some musicians from Basel – as the set was part of the "jazz meets world" series on Saba. LP, Vinyl record album

Notable sidemen include John Scofield, Wallace Roney, Randy Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, and Franco Ambrosetti. CD

Featuring Donald Harrison, Hugo Heredia, Gianluigi Trovesi, Franco Ambrosetti, Rudy Brass, Luca Bonvini, Mitchel Forman, Bob Cunningham, Luis Agudo, and Daniel Humair. LP, Vinyl record album

Overlooked modern jazz genius from the Swiss scene of the 60s – a record that's overflowing with great talent, only a small bit of which ever got larger exposure at the time! The big heavyweight here is pianist George Gruntz – leader of the set, and already a hell of a pianist – not as outside as on later records, but a great force to really give the set some direction! Franco Ambrosetti plays trumpet – and most of the others are great, but artists you might only know if you've got the same penchant for rare European jazz that we do – a lineup that also includes Hans Kellen and Raymond Court on trumpets, Raymond Droz on trombone, Heinz Bigler and Peter Candiotto on alto, Bruno Spoerri on tenor and baritone, and Ueli Staub on some mighty nice vibes! Tracks are often long, and have a Verve Records/JATP sort of approach – which means plenty of room for soloists to shine – on titles that include "Perdido", "Dig The Scene/Sax Battle", "There'll Never Be Another You", "Boy Shooting", "Ballad Medley" and "El Sino/Trumpet Battle". CD

One of the best of the Schema/Rearward reissues of lost Italian jazz – and a sparkling session that features the work of a young Gato Barbieri, plus trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti, pianist Franco D'Andrea, and bassist Giovanni Tommaso. Drummer Franco Tonani leads the session – but the best work is by Ambrosetti, who's got a lot of Miles Davis in his horn at this point, and by D'Andrea, who's warm and lyrical, with none of the self-indulgence of later years. Barbieri lacks the fire of his great recordings, but his tenor's also nice and strong – and he adds some of the rougher edges to the session, in a nice counterpoint to Ambrosetti's sweeter horn. Titles include "Solar", "Vamos", "U Boat", "Drum Ding", and "Hard Mode", done in 2 takes. Great package, with a nice cover, and excellent attention to good sound! CD

Bassist Miroslav Vitous was a key member of the legendary combo Weather Report, so he's obviously a great choice to head a record like this – but the sound of the album's quite different than any easy fusion expectations you might have, put together in ways that definitely showcase the ECM setting of the session! Vitous' basslines are more complicated than ever – those rich, rumbling tones we first came to love many years back – and they're joined here with a core quartet that includes Franco Ambrosetti on trumpet, Gary Campbell on tenor, and Gerald Cleaver on bass – all players with an atmospheric sensibility that matches Miroslav's modes on the record. The lack of any keyboards really makes the album differ from any familiar Weather Report grooves – as does the presence of Michel Portal on guest bass clarinet – so you might do best thinking of the record as more of a "poem" to Weather Report than a straight homage – but a great poem that's filled with all the richest sounds Vitous has to offer. Titles include "Variations On Wayne Shorter", "Variations On Lonely Woman", "Semina", "Surfing With Michel", and "When Dvorak Meets Miles". CD