Matt Mitchell and Kate Gentile’s “for teens,” “spinal thought” and “peripheral drome” are spare conceptions with rich detail filled in on the fly from the assembled collection of improvisation masters.

Wadada Leo Smith’s ‘Sacred Ceremonies’ is a divine communion among legends, but it’s also yet another ambitious statement from an artist who produces lofty works with so many different accomplices on a regular basis.

Thankfully ESP-Disk made the call to get out to the world Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy’s ‘The Coalescence,’ a valuable relic from an audacious NYC Downtown band that shouldn’t be forgotten.

The wicked brews that Crazy Doberman concocts are crazy good; ”Illusory Expansion’ is hard to define but very easy to like.

We’ve known for a long time that Susan Alcorn is an amazing pedal steel guitarist. With ‘Pedernal,’ we now know that she is an amazing all-around artist, too.

This is a significant addition to both Arcado String Trio’s limited catalog and Ivo Perelman’s massive one.

Think of ‘Joy’ by Electric Simcha as Jewish party music for the punk set.

Avant garde jazz could use more joy and wit, which is Reut Regev R*Time’s secret weapon for making you want to listen.

The Michael Gregory Jackson Clarity Quartet’s ‘Whenufindituwillknow’ pulls together the guitarist’s many musical threads into a richly diverse basket of songs.

The supremely creative ‘Sun of Goldfinger’ is unlike anything else out there – apart from other David Torn records.