Michael Formanek, Anthony Pirog and Mike Pride produce the kind of inspired music that comes from jamming – even if the record wasn’t made that way.

Michael Formanek is once again leading a high-powered quartet, and ‘As Things Do’ is as fresh, thoughtful and vigorous as anything he’s ever done.

Thumbscrew continues to perform greater than the sum of its considerable parts, as ‘Multicolored Midnight’ retains all the freshness of their first time together.

Michael Formanek’s composing prowess had set a high standard for this ensemble. Sometimes, though, you just gotta let guys run off the leash. And, as we now know with ‘Other Zones,’ he did.

Whether under a freeway or in the studio, Tony Malaby can make good art out of his surroundings and does so again with ‘The Cave of Winds.’

Tim Berne’s Decay quartet was good enough to beg the question of why hadn’t they made a record from their time together. Now, that question needn’t be asked anymore.

Michael Formanek Drome Trio’s ‘Were We Where We Were’ is a gratifying listen, whether the person beholding it realizes that these songs are musical palindromes or not.

‘5’ is a “new” set of old recordings by Tim Berne’s Bloodcount featuring the special sauce that guitarist Marc Ducret added to this supergroup quartet from the ’90s.

‘Attention Spam’ is a reminder that the special makeup of Tim Berne’s Bloodcount made the music itself special and this latest output is a precious capture from those short few years the ensemble was active.

Even the most forward-thinking musicians dig simply constructed chorales. Ben Goldberg is another one who does, but for ‘Everything Happens To Be.,’ he also digs deeper.