Mendoza playing alongside a talented ensemble of musicians including Joe Lovano, Ralph Towner, Marc Cohen, Gary Peacock, Peter Erckine, Bob Mintzer, Jim Beard and John Scofield. CD

With vocals from Dianne Reeves and Cccile McLorin Salvant, saxophonists Chris Potter and David Binney, percussionist Alex Acuna, and guitarist Ramon Stagnaro. CD

Amazing soundshapes from guitarist John Abercrombie – a set that strongly follows in the tradition of his ECM work of the 70s, but also pushes at the edges a bit, too! Abercrombie plays electric, in that haunting, ethereal style of his – and also uses a guitar synthesizer too, but in relatively subtle ways that spin out in space nicely – setup in a trio with drummer/percussionist Jon Cristensen, with additional keyboards from Vince Mendoza – who composed a number of tracks in just the right mood for Abercrombie. As usual, the best moments on the record are those when John focuses strongly on tone – and there's plenty of those throughout – on titles that include "Agitato", "First Light", "Single Moon", "Right Now", "Last Light", and "Bright Reign". CD

Gregory Porter live at London's Royal Albert Hall – backed not only by his excellent core band, but also the 60+ piece London Studio Orchestra – really pulling off a masterstroke in the way he can bring out all the lush promise of the orchestral setting while staying rooted in intimate soul! Credit conductor and arranger Vince Mendoza for the subtle finesse of the orchestra – never getting too big and lush for the sake of bigness – but it's the warmth of Gregory Porter's voice at the center that gives this such a real vibe, steering free of nostalgia on songs from his Nat King Cole & Me project while bringing grander instrumentation, but no less intimate of a vibe to songs from Porter's own songbook. Includes "Mona Lisa", "Don't Lose Your Steam", "Hey Laura", "Smile", "In Heaven", "The Lonely One", "Ballerina", "Miss Otis Regrets", "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas", "Nature Boy", "But Beautiful", "Ballerina", "For All We Know", "When Love Was King", "I Wonder Who My Daddy Is" and more. and more. 19 tracks on the CD – and it comes with the DVD of the performance, too! CD