Individually and collectively, Tim Berne’s Hardcell trio was amazing and the live souvenir ‘The Cosmos’ confirms that.

‘xFORM’ is one of the snowflakes from a David Torn/Prezens live performance that’s thankfully been captured for posterity and now, available for the public.

‘Streets of Philadelphia’ might ostensibly be about a certain American city, but it speaks more to the boundless talent and imagination of outsider guitarist and composer Nick Millevoi.

Dave Gisler’s highly improvisational trio is a natural in a live setting. Add the like-minded trumpeter Jaimie Branch to the mix, and those qualities are taken up a couple of notches.

If there was going to be anyone who could figure out how to make a tenor saxophone work with an oud and Persian percussion, that would be Ivo Perelman, with Gordon Grdina and Hamin Honari likewise finding the right roles for their respective instruments alongside a sax for the trio improv date ‘The Purity of Desire.’

ZZ Top’s take on ‘I Thank You’ is driven by signature scruffy riffing, and a rhythm as hard and impenetrable as the West Texas ground.

Fujii and Tamura come up with an endless well of ideas to apply to the piano/trumpet format for “Pentas,’ their seventh duo album together.

Here is “Snollygoster Goon,” the first single from The Lickerish Quartet’s upcoming EP ‘Threesome, Vol. 2.’

These ain’t traditional Christmas carols, but Mars Williams has started a new tradition in line with a year that has broken all semblance of normalcy.

Azymuth’s recent output shows that they have plenty of gas left in the tank, but leave it to Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to inspire them to get back their original mojo.