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.

Jeff Oster found collaborators perfect for taking his music into fresh territory, revitalizing it without stripping out its highly individual Oster character for his lo-fi hip hop album ‘hØwling lØØn.’

Jeff Lorber shows no sign of running out of fuel, and ‘The Drop’ shows he’s putting everything into his craft today, just as he did some 30 albums ago.

Tomas Fujiwara and his 7 Poets Trio opens up a cool new vista of jazz with the spare but daring ‘Pith.’

Matthew Shipp has made a lot of solo piano records but they never grow tiresome because of his ability to express something fresh every time. That’s the intrinsic nature of Shipp.

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

Released 15 years ago this month, ‘Gift of Screws’ pulled together all of Lindsey Buckingham’s considerable strengths without going overboard on his quirks.

The newly expanded Isley Brothers’ ‘3 + 3’ arrived 50 years ago this month with a funky take on a very recent Seals and Crofts hit. Something magical happened.

Ivo Perelman is up to his usual tricks o ‘Molten Gold,’ making up melodies on the run with trombone great Ray Anderson for four amazing improvisations.

As King Loosestrife, Brett Nagafuchi offers a mishmash of alluring ideas that are often cohered by a theme of creatively atypical approaches.