Mike Casey is, not to put too fine a point on it, an extraordinary saxophone player.

“All Together Now” shows how the Beatles incorporated other genres and infused them with their own rock sound, creating a unique music form.

“Ministry of Life” is an excellent preface for what’s coming on ‘Esquire III: No Spare Planet,’ the third album from Yes co-founder Chris Squire’s ex-wife Nikki Squire.

Rob Reddy’s ‘Citizen Quintet’ imposes itself as more than just a collection of songs but as a creature: inhaling, exhaling, always moving in crooked paths while always finding its way home, displaying evolving emotion as it bursts with complexity.

Memory of Elements’ ‘Now Noise’ is an album with so much going on that you’ll need more than one listen to fully appreciate it.

The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco are superstars alongside XTC and Squeeze in an alternate universe in which pop music doesn’t insult your intelligence and sometimes even challenges it.

Even at 13 tracks, the gorgeous ‘FM’ almost seems too short. Farewell Milwaukee always leaves you wanting more.

Adam Schneit keeps the Neil Young-like melody of “A Clearer View” melody well within sight while retaining the immediacy of a good Young song without needing lyrics to get that across.

Guitarist Ryan Blotnick moves back to Maine and an album of eight, spacious Blotnick compositions gently swayed by African-derived rhythms happens.

This gravelly marvel of a singer, Leon Russell leaves us as the consummate musician – and a never-ebbing rebel.