By applying today’s sound processing technology to hand-made music that was conceived instantly, Adam Rudolph magnifies the exotic musical concepts of himself and his longtime partners and collaborators Hamid Drake and Ralph M. Jones.

The baker’s dozen in this Best of 2017 list reveals that fusion jazz has expanded and diversified way past its ‘Bitches Brew’-era beginnings.

Teeming with guitars, Wadada Leo Smith’s ‘Najwa’ is one of those particularly bright moments in a catalog full of them.

With such an impressive assemblage of talent pushing out the frontiers of world music, this could have easily been a scholarly affair, but then that wouldn’t be an Adam Rudolph-led record. ‘Glare Of The Tiger’ is spontaneous, instinctual, colorful, danceable and…most importantly…a hell of an enjoyable listen.