‘The Art Spirit’ does a pretty good job showing what Ben Goldberg, Nels Cline and Tom Rainey are capable of individually and a great job showing what they can do collectively with no premeditation.

A lot of jazz records are about compositions and chops. Michael Bisio and Matthew Shipp’s ‘Flow of Everything’ is more about the connectedness between two very creative musicians.

There are small variations throughout Steely Dan’s latest live take on “Peg,” but they don’t detract from – or add to – the song’s greatness.

When they decide to shed the decades-old false personality they sported for commercial reasons, Chicago can still make music that a listener can enjoy.

Giuseppe Doronzo and Pino Basile’s ‘Aterraterr’ has contemporary relevance, yet also feels as if the music has come from centuries of time.

Their first studio album rocked. But ‘The Birth of Cactus 1970,’ recorded at the band’s very first gig, is quite simply incendiary.

The soulful guitar/organ jazz thing is perfectly suited for a saxophone pedigree like Nick Hempton, and with ‘Slick’ featuring guitar great Peter Bernstein, he keeps those good vibes going.

Suffering from the winter blahs? If so, ‘Summertime Sounds’ by the Silvers is sure to combat such weather-related woes.

Simon Phillips, Poco and Oz Noy are part of the latest edition of Five for the Road, an occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

‘Paul Simon’ arrived 50 years ago today with his first – but most certainly not his last – extended travels into world music.