A solo cello record might not sound like an exciting proposition for some, but with ‘REX,’ Christopher Hoffman puts the instrument at the forefront of modern music.

Camila Nebbia, James Banner and Max Andrzejewski successfully capture the spirit of creating live while innovating, making ‘Presencia’ an exciting new entry in the catalog of free jazz.

If laying down tracks where John Coltrane’s ‘A Love supreme’ was birthed is a jazz pilgrimage, then Dave Stryker’s ‘Blue Fire, The Van Gelder Sessions’ is a truly religious experience in the jazz sense.

Ivo Perelman and Wadada Leo Smith collectively bring about a century of fearless music creation into ‘Duologues 5,’ and the veteran poise and confidence shows up unfailingly from beginning to end.

Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman and Tyshawn Sorey come back from seventeen years off to execute with a vengeance on Fieldplay’s ‘Thereupon.’

Breaking up ‘Off the Record’ into four EPs afforded Makaya McCraven the opportunity to construct discreet ‘suites’ whereby he uses his studio sorcery to provide the connective tissue between these primal jams.

For ‘Dial Up’ by Dave Rempis, Jason Adasiewicz + Chris Corsano, it’s the Chicago/Midwestern lunch-pail approach to free improvisation is the glue that holds this trio together.

‘KHMER Live in Bergen’ shows Nils Petter Molvær’s uniquely meticulous electronic instrumental music that finds beauty in the clash between calm and the calamitous can be faithfully executed outside of a studio.

‘The Diptychs’ continues the creative toughness and pliability of Lina Allemano’s long-running quartet.

Charles Tyler’s reissued 1975 release ‘Voyage From Jericho’ documents a turning point in a career marked by being present and participating in the front lines of 60s out-jazz and bringing it forward to the loft jazz of the 70s.