With a prepared piano, Satoko Fujii once again makes “music that no one has ever heard before.”

Wisdom flows like the Mississippi River through James McMurtry’s brilliant new album. It’s Bob Dylan, without the metaphor.

While the energy of prior MTO records might be dialed back a bit, Steven Bernstein’s ‘Tinctures In Times’ is every bit as adventurous and emotionally weighty as before.

Clearly the guys of The Kevin Brady Electric Quartet are very comfortable playing together, and the immediacy and unity heard on “Airbourne” proves it.

Rush’s ‘Roll the Bones,’ released 30 years ago today, is better than most people think. I should know, as many times as I’ve bought it.

‘5’ is a “new” set of old recordings by Tim Berne’s Bloodcount featuring the special sauce that guitarist Marc Ducret added to this supergroup quartet from the ’90s.

‘Attention Spam’ is a reminder that the special makeup of Tim Berne’s Bloodcount made the music itself special and this latest output is a precious capture from those short few years the ensemble was active.

ElectroBluesSociety and Boo Boo Davis make the perfect combination: the former supplies the groove and the latter brings the grit.

A depth of knowledge that comes from long-term research, and Curt Bianchi’s passion for the music of Weather Report, is evident on every page.

L.A. is a big, diverse jazz scene where it’s tough to stand out but newcomer drummer Atticus Reynolds has quickly done just that with ‘Towers,’ bringing loads of chops and musical creativity to bear on his first record as an Angeleno.