Just as his instincts on bass are superb, Mark Helias showed good instincts about cutting loose this long, forgotten recording of an Open Loose club date when all cylinders were firing.

Over in Barcelona, Spain, David Philips found his own sunny angle, a silver lining to all this despair: Mother Nature is getting a much-needed break.

Being around William Parker has left a deep impression on drummer Jeff Cosgrove, and some of Parker’s creative flair has apparently rubbed off on him, too.

The people around Jake Reed knew that there isn’t much as a drummer and composer he couldn’t do and do well. With his solid debut ‘Reed Between The Lines,’ now the rest of the world knows this, too.

Music that relaxes doesn’t necessarily have to be devoid of subtlety and rich complexities. Gato Libre has proven that time and again, and ‘Koneko’ makes it an open-and-shut case.

What happens when you lay a “Babylon Sisters” groove underneath an ancient, American patriotic chant? Christian Fabian, Ron Oswanski and Bernard Purdie came up with the answer.

There might not be a better vehicle for the genius of Anthony Braxton than Anthony Braxton himself, but in tackling a few choice selections of his material, Thumbscrew revealed further facets of his ingenuity just in how they use those compositions to take his vision to new places.

Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut’s ‘Live In Graz’ is performed so sublimely, it’s easy to forget that this engaging, low-brass engagement is a live record.

Thiago Nassif’s progressive assault on Brazilian pop won’t appeal to everybody, but they say that about all artists ahead of their time *during* their time.

Jorge Roeder brings a lot of virtuosity to the double bass, but the most striking thing about ‘El Suelo Mío’ is how he is able to get such lovely sounds and captivating rhythms out of it.