Devin Gray has always successfully tackled challenging music, but the Berlin Underground bent of ‘Hz Of Gold’ may be the biggest challenge he’s met yet.

Brandon Seabrook puts all sides of his virtuosity to work on ‘Hellbent Daydream:’ imaginative composition, elite musicianship and band leadership.

Guitarist/sound-texturalist David Torn and saxophonist Tim Berne join forces to offer a sonic mind-bender fabricated out of thin air.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr’s ‘Drops’ is confrontational and reflective, aggressive and unassuming. It’s never, ever boring.

Here is the advance single “Click Song” from Chicago Underground Duo’s upcoming album ‘Hyperglyph.’

Joe Morris and Elliott Sharp are among the only guitarists who can make a guitarist improvisation duet session with electronics sound alien while staying coherent and insightful. They thrive doing so on ‘Realism.’

When Brandon Seabrook does a solo banjo and guitar project as he did with ‘Object of Unknown Function,’ there’s even more of his uniqueness to ponder, appreciate and – yes – enjoy.

A band that pairs a Fender Rhodes player with a pianist and no bass perhaps shouldn’t work, but with sheer flair that not only overcome that challenge, Kira Kira utterly thrives in it.

‘Dog Days of Summer’ might be called “jazz-rock,” but like anything else Satoko Fujii undertakes, she does jazz-rock on her own, uncompromising terms.

After helping other artists come into their own, Josh Johnson’s time has come with ‘Unusual Object,’ an album that elegantly operates in the vanguard.