More than throwaway Yuletide keepsakes, the Beatles’ Christmas discs offer fans a peek into their rapid artistic and personal development.

Hall and Oates, after scoring No. 1 songs in the 1970s and ’80s, have more recently focused on their role as a celebrated concert act.

S. Victor Aaron picks the best of 2014’s avant-garde and experimental jazz, including Roscoe Mitchell, Jimmy Giuffre, Wadada Leo Smith and others.

Long been the master of subtlety and textures, Luke Reynolds returns with ‘After the Flood’ — a triumph of vision and craft.

This is the perfect introduction to Joaquin Sabina’s music: a subversive love ballad that’s at once tender and cruelly unforgiving.

Jeff Oster is making a New Age record with Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdie’s help. Yes, you heard right.

A late-1980s introduction to Jeff Lynne forged some of the best-selling music of Tom Petty’s career. They also became life-long friends.

Any time Don Henley speaks, either to blast fans for using smartphones at concerts or to sue someone, I think about Mojo Nixon.

Steve Howe has crafted a legendary career with his hands, and he takes that very seriously, indeed.

S. Victor Aaron picks the best of 2014’s modern and mainstream jazz albums, including Keith Jarrett, Brian Blade, Fred Hersch and others.