Dutch Baritonist Per Goldscmidt's albums won't having you throw out your Mulligan, Shihab, or Brignola collection but for those of you who like Baritone post bop he's definitely underrecognized. But musicians know him and it is evidenced by who's along with him on this quartet outting including younger Dutch ace Nils Lan Doky on keys,Lonnie Plaxico on bass,and legend Jack Dejohnette on skins.I'd run a lengthy run down but let's say it's a solid CD good writing on original tunes. But pick this one after you have gotten the CD Tribute To Frank Sinatra.Incredible NHOP there and tunes that played in manner that might make both Frank and Nelson Riddle have the hair on there necks stand up on end.This CD here has same energy and ace playing but the use of otherwise familiar tunes turned into charging hard bop romps is a touch above.

As pianist Brad Mehldau mentions in his lengthy and well thought-out liner notes, organist Sam Yahel, tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman and drummer Brian Blade each have the ability to sound like themselves no matter what the setting or the dominant style. Yahel is one of the most original organists of his generation for even when his tone recalls Jimmy Smith, his choice of notes does not. Redman and Blade also have original sounds and the three have played together on numerous occasions, often under the saxophonist's leadership. On Truth and Beauty, they perform six of Yahel's originals and three obscurities including Ornette Coleman's challenging "Check Up" and Paul Simon's relatively lightweight but lyrical "Night Game."

Guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen both play well on these live performances, but the reason to acquire this set is for the remarkable Oscar Peterson. The pianist brilliantly investigates several jazz styles on "Blues Etude" (including stride and boogie-woogie), plays exciting versions of his "Chicago Blues" and "Easy Listening Blues," tears into "Secret Love," and shows honest emotion on "Come Sunday." Peterson really flourished during his years with Norman Granz's Pablo label, and this was one of his finest recordings of the period.

This is a set for the dedicated – the fans who will indeed be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Asia's formation by seeking out the double-disc set, Anthologia: 20th Anniversary Geffen Years Collection 1982-90. This collection is no mere anthology; it is a complete recorded works, containing everything the band recorded for Geffen in the '80s, from full albums (Asia, Alpha, Astra), to B-sides and a handful of rarities…

Johnson's sophomore outing is quite a departure from the solo guitar format of Fingertip Ship, his debut. Determined to showcase his skills as a writer and orchestrator, Johnson assembled an unlikely cast of guest musicians: from electric bassist Reggie Washington of the M-Base Collective to Warren Haynes of the reformed Allman Brothers Band. Paul McCandless's oboe and soprano sax and Andy Reinhardt's accordion also create arresting musical colors. Those who don't care for the old-world quality of the accordion ought to hear what Reinhardt is capable of making the instrument become. Upright bassist Glen Moore, drummer Matt Wilson, and percussionist Cyro Baptista also join Johnson, bringing influences from their diverse musical worlds to the project…

More than any other album in the canon of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1958’s Moanin’—featuring the great drummer with trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt—was the perfect crystallization of the band’s bluesy, soulful sound, and it still stands today as perhaps the most quintessential hard bop recording of all-time. Originally self-titled, the album was later renamed Moanin’ due to the popularity of Timmons’ unforgettable opening track. The album also introduced several indelible Golson compositions that would become standards of the jazz songbook including “Along Came Betty” and “Blues March.” This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

With Black Label Society, guitarist and one-time Ozzy sideman Zakk Wylde found a lasting home for his ferocious metal picking. Formed in the late '90s, the outfit features a rotating lineup and Wylde taking on the bulk of the instruments. At its heart a Southern metal band, BLS melds the whiskey-soaked spirit of '70s rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd with the unleashed chaos of '80s thrashers such as Slayer…

Weighing it at a generous 20 tracks, The Best of Three Dog Night may be a little much for some casual listeners, yet it's unquestionably the definitive collection, featuring all of their hits, plus a nice selection of album tracks. There isn't anything major missing, and while some of the non-singles material isn't particularly strong, there are enough worthwhile moments to make this a fairly consistent, enjoyable listen, in addition to being the one Three Dog Night album most fans will need.

Billy Hawks played the organ and sang the blues – a combination that in the late '60s, when Hawks recorded and released The New Genius of the Blues and More Heavy Soul! for Prestige, meant that he was most certainly a practitioner of soul-jazz. Working in a similar vein to Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and other funky professors of the Hammond organ, Hawks didn't play straight-up jazz on either of his Prestige LPs, here captured on a single-disc 2014 reissue by Ace. For one thing, he sang, a choice that positions his recordings much closer to R&B than jazz. Clearly, Ray Charles made an impression on Hawks – "I Got a Woman" shows up on New Genius, "Drown in My Own Tears" on More Heavy Soul! – but with his intimate trio (on New Genius, he's supported by guitarist Joseph Jones and drummer Henry Terrell; on More Heavy Soul! by, Maynard Parker sits in for Jones, and Buddy Terry is added on tenor sax), he was grittier and funkier than Charles was in the '60s, walking the line between mod-jazz and soul.

All great human passions – whether romantic, creative, inventive, or transformative – begin with a single spark. On her tenth album as a leader, Japanese pianist/composer Hiromi traces the path of the flame ignited by that spark as it consumes and inspires. Over the course of nine expressively charged songs, the listener is carried away on an impassioned spiritual journey that might tell the story of a personal discovery, a love affair, or the creation of the music itself.