Some jazz ensembles build their identity around a recognizable sound; the Mitch Marcus Quintet seems more interested in discovering how many different sounds can coexist before the music settles into anything predictable. On InAround, the New York-born saxophonist, composer and arranger unleashes a nine-part collection of restless invention, where bristling post-bop, electric-guitar abrasion, muscular swing and playful melodic detours continually collide. The result is a vibr

There is a profound sense of spiritual searching at the heart of Mercy We Need, but pianist, composer and theologian Julian Davis Reid approaches that journey with an artist’s imagination rather than a preacher’s prescription. Blending the exploratory freedom of contemporary post-bop, the expressive vocabulary of soul-jazz and the fervent traditions of gospel, his sophomore album with Circle of Trust is an expansive meditation on human vulnerability, faith, remembrance and th

There are memories that never fade, voices that continue to echo long after their owners have departed, and melodies that somehow preserve the people and moments we fear losing most. Italian alto and sopranino saxophonist Carla Marciano explores that beautiful intersection of remembrance, devotion and musical imagination on Daydreaming: My Beloved Father Giovanni, an emotionally expansive eight-composition suite dedicated to the father whose love of music helped shape her art

Hauntingly lyrical one moment, fiercely combustible the next, Zeit Zirkel is a riveting exploration of jazz as both emotional refuge and adventurous terrain. German-born drummer and composer Christian Finger has assembled a remarkable quintet for this 13-piece journey, bringing together trumpeter Ralph Alessi, guitarist Ben Monder, pianist Vadim Neselovskyi and bassist Adam Armstrong in a musical conversation that continually shifts its colors, textures and emotional temperat

Elegant, intimate and touched with a lovely bittersweet glow, “Christmas in Your Heart” is the kind of holiday recording that invites you to slow down, settle in and savor the season’s deeper meaning. With a graceful piano introduction, a delicate wash of strings and the unmistakable warmth of Catherine Russell’s voice, this magnificently reimagined standard feels less like a seasonal production than a personal invitation into a cherished family memory. The song carries a par

A Lifetime of Stories, Hard-won Wisdom and Enduring Love Finds its Way into Nine Country-Soul Originals Some songwriters search for years to find the stories they want to give voice to. Jacqui Brown has spent a lifetime collecting them. The actress and model who left a small Ontario town to pursue a new life in California became a journalist, author, stand-up comic and life coach before discovering that music offered another way to reach people wrestling with life’s most chal

Kevin Keller transforms synthesizers into instruments of mystery, momentum and mesmerizing sonic color on Altus, a fascinating 10-track excursion that reconnects the veteran composer with his electronic roots while expanding the atmospheric and spiritual dimensions of his art. Moving between hypnotic drones, bubbling percussive motifs, elegant piano passages and vast, shadowy soundscapes, his 16th album is less a collection of conventional compositions than an unfolding lands

Haunting, introspective and richly cinematic, Elan’s “How Could This Happen to Me?” unfolds like an emotionally charged film score, its elegant piano melodies navigating shadowy harmonies, lush orchestral ambience and emphatic, almost tribal percussion. The latest release from the Los Angeles-born, Denver-based composer and pianist finds him transforming life’s unpredictable turns into a compelling instrumental narrative, balancing meditative beauty with surges of dramatic in

There are moments when the life you have spent years building suddenly becomes unrecognizable. The skills that once defined you no longer come easily, the future you imagined vanishes, and even the simplest question—where do I go from here?—seems impossible to answer. For acclaimed Canadian vocalist and songwriter Juliann Kuchocki, the title of her 2012 album Broken Compass captures the bewilderment she faced at the time. A series of serious automobile accidents derailed her

The epic works of Sergei Rachmaninoff call for more than dazzling piano technique. They require artistry that suspends time, draws us in emotionally and transports us so completely that the boundaries between performer, instrument and audience simply disappear. That was the magic British pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason created under the evening sky at the Hollywood Bowl on August 27, making her debut at the historic venue with an extraordinary interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Pia

Few avant-garde jazz artists navigate the delicate boundary between beauty and sonic turbulence as fearlessly as violinist and composer Jason Kao Hwang. On Second Life, his latest collaboration with longtime musical partners bassist Ken Filiano and percussionist Andrew Drury, four expansive compositions unfold like unpredictable journeys through tension, grief, agitation, and fleeting moments of grace. The trio’s music can be abrasive, unsettling, and fiercely unpredictable,

For saxophonist and composer David Borgo, jazz is less a fixed destination than a constantly shifting landscape, where melodies evolve, rhythms mutate, and musicians discover new possibilities by responding to one another in the moment. That philosophy animates Panta Rhei, a richly varied collection of ten original compositions whose title translates from ancient Greek as “everything flows.” Joined by pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Luca Alemanno, and drummer Dan Schnelle, Borgo