By painting impressionistic portraits out of cues and basic figures for ‘Words Unspoken,’ John Surman got the best contributions from his quartet.

Rarely ever going far outside, Vijay Iyer continues to pursue his piano trio jazz revolution from within with a persistent creative spark and an inspired rhythm section.

‘For Mahalia, With Love’ is an inspiring manifestation of the gospel music from Mahalia Jackson long embedded inside James Brandon Lewis.

With Sunna Gunnlaugs’ latest release ‘Becoming,’ the art of the trio is alive and well under her leadership.

Dan Weiss’ innate understanding of tradition picked up from key influences made it possible to move forward in the salient, discriminating way that he did for ‘Dedication.’

John Escreet’s first trio album ‘Seismic Shift’ is that rare record where both massive chops and innovative harmonic ideas both come in spades.

Thumbscrew continues to perform greater than the sum of its considerable parts, as ‘Multicolored Midnight’ retains all the freshness of their first time together.

All that hype surrounding a child who plays a sophisticated music form like an old veteran is real, but now that Joey Alexander is no longer child and finding his own identity, the hype feels even more real than before with the all-originals ‘Origin.’

Dave Douglas’ ambition to honor a classic work of art from six centuries ago strictly on his own terms is what makes ‘Secular Psalms’ a piece of fine art on its own.

‘Smoke Sessions’ is one of Nicholas Payton’s standouts because in paying homage to some of his idols, Payton does so in an offhand manner that reveals his own inimitable musical personality.