The Rob Dixon Trio’s ‘Coast To Crossroads’ is funk-jazz that’s the best because it comes from the best.

Sounding very much like themselves while incrementally reinventing themselves, The Necks’ constant tweaking of their formula keeps the music fresh and full of fascination. ‘Body’ nudges the band forward on their long, highly rewarding journey.

Like Claudio Scolari and Daniele Cavalca’s prior projects, you could call ‘Natural Impulse’ “jazz” for a number of reasons but in the end it just sounds like two (sometimes three) guys following their instincts to make music that’s both unpredictable and inviting. And they have only gotten better at doing that.

It’s a somewhat revamped Ronin, but Nik Bärtsch saw opportunity with those changes and exploited them. ‘Awase’ can move both your mind and your soul but the deceptively fresh approach it takes to get under the skin like that is the brilliance of Bärtsch and his Ronin quartet.

Chick Corea and Steve Gadd’s ‘Chinese Butterfly’ breaks no new ground but in this case, that can be completely forgiven.

The baker’s dozen in this Best of 2017 list reveals that fusion jazz has expanded and diversified way past its ‘Bitches Brew’-era beginnings.

Mumpbeak’s ‘Tooth,’ now out via Rare Noise Records, not only continues ideas Roy Powell first put forth on the self-titled debut, but also makes it plain that there’s plenty of room to expand on those ideas.

Teeming with guitars, Wadada Leo Smith’s ‘Najwa’ is one of those particularly bright moments in a catalog full of them.

Always putting spirituality above improvisation, Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band connects to listeners in a way uncommon for jazz musicians, and ‘Body And Shadow’ continues a remarkable consistency of mission and quality spanning two decades.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition’s the original mission of melding modern group-level stream-of-consciousness with contemporary raga remains intact, ‘Agrima’ builds on those original ideas, too.