<<< Part Three, Whack Jazz In the final piece of these exhaustive, four-part salutes to the top releases of 2012, the fusion jazz records are surveyed.

Another New Music Monday, another truckload of cool sounds — this time from the likes of John Hiatt, Lee Ritenour, Medeski Martin and Wood, Shemekia Copeland, Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and the Gaddabouts, among others.

“I love making albums!” declared super session guitar player Lee Ritenour, and he continues: “For me, creating a new project from beginning to end, is one of the most musically and spiritually rewarding things that I do in my life.”