Because it’s all handmade with an uncluttered classic sound, the lightly funky jazz of Kait Dunton’s ‘Keyboards’ is a guilt-free guilty pleasure.

Kate Gentile held back no ambition in making the vast, unencumbered ‘Find Letter X,’ as her band carried out thoroughly conceived, nonconformist concepts.

Ivo Perelman and Nate Wooley once again push each other to peak performances, and since their peaks are high, so is the level of improvisation.

jaimie branch’s final missive on Earth ‘Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))’ makes clear that our world is worse off because she’s no longer in it.

Jeff Oster found collaborators perfect for taking his music into fresh territory, revitalizing it without stripping out its highly individual Oster character for his lo-fi hip hop album ‘hØwling lØØn.’

Jeff Lorber shows no sign of running out of fuel, and ‘The Drop’ shows he’s putting everything into his craft today, just as he did some 30 albums ago.

Tomas Fujiwara and his 7 Poets Trio opens up a cool new vista of jazz with the spare but daring ‘Pith.’

Matthew Shipp has made a lot of solo piano records but they never grow tiresome because of his ability to express something fresh every time. That’s the intrinsic nature of Shipp.

‘For Mahalia, With Love’ is an inspiring manifestation of the gospel music from Mahalia Jackson long embedded inside James Brandon Lewis.

Here is the video premiere of “Pigeons & Disco,” from the Montreal-based quartet Bellbird’s debut album ‘Root in Tandem.’