Emphasizing a loosely-structured, open approach, the Tomeka Reid Quartet builds on the success of the prior two outings with ‘3+3.’

Kate Gentile held back no ambition in making the vast, unencumbered ‘Find Letter X,’ as her band carried out thoroughly conceived, nonconformist concepts.

jaimie branch’s final missive on Earth ‘Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))’ makes clear that our world is worse off because she’s no longer in it.

With ‘Connection,’ Marc Ribot and his rabble-rouser super trio Ceramic Dog are back leading the hell raising contingent of loud, improvised music.

Seven albums in, the Kaze concept shows no sign of going stale. Every time out they freshen that concept in ingenious ways and ‘Crustal Movement’ with Ikue Mori returning is their most audacious undertaking yet.

The Velvet Underground released ‘White Light / White Heat’ 55 years ago this week. Lou Reed later rightly described it as “the Statue of Liberty of punk.”

With ‘Oddly Enough,’ Gordon Grdina’s own stringed-based expedition into the works of one of current jazz’s most esoteric composers sheds yet more light on the character, shape and genius contained in these scores.

‘5’ is a “new” set of old recordings by Tim Berne’s Bloodcount featuring the special sauce that guitarist Marc Ducret added to this supergroup quartet from the ’90s.

‘Attention Spam’ is a reminder that the special makeup of Tim Berne’s Bloodcount made the music itself special and this latest output is a precious capture from those short few years the ensemble was active.

Ari Lehtela’s album is a godsend of sanity in the year the Earth stood still, getting everything right when everything else just went wrong.