Garry Tallent assured us that this “was not going to be any four-hour concert.” He laughed, “I only know one person crazy enough for that!”

The combination of Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski and Larry Grenadier is capable of so much; but ‘Hudson’ delivers in that it doesn’t kowtow to expectations of what kind of music these four legends should make.

As a composite of ideas and influences introduced elsewhere, ‘Vol 1: The Humanities’ is a fine entry point to Ben Goldberg’s catalog that dilutes none of his expansive artfulness.

Fabian Almazan’s ‘Alcanza’ is stirring, complex, emotional and musically honest.

Frankly, not a lot of music has excited me through the first half of this year. That is, until Alestorm’s ‘No Grave But the Sea’ arrived.

Bill Laswell and the cast of characters assembled for this 57-minute jam aren’t the ordinary type.

It becomes clear on solo live performances such as the one captured on ‘Invisible Touch At Taktlos Zürich’ that the more Matthew Shipp is exposed, the more fascinating is his music.

What’s the difference between an electric piano and an acoustic one? In the hands of The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco, apparently not much, quality-wise.

Baku and Fei’s ‘No One Teaches The Snake To Strike’ is extreme jazz improv, all tracks made up on the spot, no safety net, no overdubs, just a pure outpouring of drums/reeds co-combustion.

A new reissue highlights the often-overlooked Paul Collins’ Beat, one of the great power pop bands from the late ’70s/early ’80s.