As he had done with Wayne Shorter’s and Miles Davis’ music, Denny Zeitlin covers the songs of George Gershwin with imagination, passion and a deeply personal touch.

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.

The Claudio Scolari Project’s ‘Intermission’ is a collective leap of faith, and these guys positively thrive in it.

Alex LoRe’s ‘Evening Will Find Itself’ a set of musical chapters that likewise stretches modernist jazz to the frontiers of what is possible.

Illegal Crowns’ new album ‘Unclosing’ is maximal jazz from a band full of advanced composers and prodigious improvisers.

On her latest excursion as a leader, ‘The Glass Hours,’ elite bassist Linda May Han Oh does everything to burnish her reputation as a complete artist.

‘Catching Ghosts’ with Majid Bekkas and Hamid Drake is a fine keepsake from Peter Brötzmann’s recent comeback, capturing an old soul taking chances with a fire still in his young heart.

By expanding his band into an orchestra for ‘The Other One,’ Henry Threadgill demonstrated that his deviceful musical ideas are not only scalable, but eminently enduring.

If Kate Gentile is capable of a major statement like ‘b i o m e i.i,’ there’s nothing she’s incapable of.

Since members of the Vampires have previously collaborated with each member of the Necks, Chris Abrahams’ inclusion in the former group for the attractive new release ‘Nightjar’ makes this addition by addition.