The only thing that beats a white Christmas is a blues Christmas, particularly the vintage style blues proffered by Ben Levin for his yuletide tune “Forgot Mrs. Claus.”

Playing in the most exposed settings is a Catherine Sikora hallmark, her latest being ‘corners,’ a series of concerts by one, for one. Her fearlessness never lets her — nor the listener — down.

Take away the fussy orchestral arrangements from these vintage songs and you’re left with what made Bob James a long-time great. He still is.

Rich Halley’s ‘Boomslang’ is a mixture between of Halley-written material and group improvisations, and both approaches work equally well.

Here is the video premiere of the totally improvised piece “Zion” by piano maestro Nick Maclean.

Once again with ‘Windows of Time,’ Wertico Cain & Gray make instant music with all the creativity and none of the mess, and they don’t even have to be in the same room to do it.

Ivo Perelman tends to draw out all the interesting little characteristics from his musical partners, even first time musical collaborators like Vijay Iyer for their totally improvised encounter ‘Tale Nine.’

Neal Francis bares his soul on his satisfying sophomore release ‘In Plain Sight’ but also shows how to do it without dragging down his listeners in the process.

Oftentimes quickly knocking out a record translates into a low quality product. For someone like Sue Foley, the raw and unfiltered ‘Pinky’s Blues’ just means she’s doing what comes naturally.

Listening to Matthew Shipp create on unaccompanied piano is like peering into the soul of a man. ‘Codebreaker’ exposes the soul of an artist absorbing decades of accomplishment but still capable of decades more.