The organ trio is one of the most time-tested aggregations in jazz, and the men who form said grouping on Wonderful! Wonderful! are three of the most treasured musicians to ever play their instruments. Organ giant Joey DeFrancesco, guitar hero Larry Coryell and swinging drum stalwart Jimmy Cobb all set the bar impossibly high on their respective axes and now, they're joining forces on the organist's tenth album for the HighNote label.

John Coltrane's Crescent from the spring of 1964 is an epic album, showing his meditative side that would serve as a perfect prelude to his immortal work A Love Supreme. His finest quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones supports the somewhat softer side of Coltrane, and while not completely in ballad style, the focus and accessible tone of this recording work wonders for anyone willing to sit back and let this music enrich and wash over you. While not quite at the "sheets of sound" unfettered music he would make before his passing in 1967, there are hints of this group stretching out in restrained dynamics, playing as lovely a progressive jazz as heard anywhere in any time period. The highlights come at the top with the reverent, ruminating, and free ballad "Crescent," with a patient Coltrane acquiescing to swinging…

On February 26, the venerated multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe Chambers will release Samba de Maracatu, a notable Blue Note Records return for a significant figure in the label’s history. The album is a nine-song set of original compositions, standards, and pieces by Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, and Horace Silver.

"From A Love Supreme to The Sex Machine!" The personal musical mantra of the late Philadelphia reedman Byard Lancaster informed an open-minded and varied lifetime in jazz.

Recorded live on three different continents (Europe, America, and Asia) from 2002-2004, Beyond the Sound Barrier finds Wayne Shorter leading the same acoustic-oriented post-bop quartet he led on his 2001 recording, Footprints Live!; the veteran tenor and soprano saxophonist is joined by pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. But if Beyond the Sound Barrier should be considered a sequel to Footprints Live!, it is far from a carbon copy. While Footprints Live! contained several Shorter pieces that have become jazz standards (including "Atlantis," "Footprints," and "Juju" ), Beyond the Sound Barrier places more emphasis on new material.

André Ceccarelli has long been one of Europe's premiere jazz drummers and since the new century began he is getting additional opportunities to showcase his talent as a bandleader and composer/arranger as well. His band includes the brilliant pianist Enrico Pieranunzi, veteran bassist Hein Van De Geyn and the promising tenor saxophonist David El-Malek. Ceccarelli excels at driving a band and is equally at home in driving post-bop numbers like the pianist's "Five Plus Five," his own angular "Free Three" and his solo feature "1er Novembre." Van De Geyn contributed the haunting ballad "Though Dreamers Die," which features El-Malek's emotional solo. Vocalist Elisabeth Kontomanou is added for "Golden Land" (which she co-wrote with the leader, while it is also heard in instrumental form) and the standard "I'm Through with Love." This rewarding session will easily stand the test of time.

SF Jazz Collective wowed critics and jazz fans alike with their debut offering on Nonesuch. Pared from a triple disc offered on their website to a single CD, it was the first to showcase the group's M.O.: to pick one jazz composer per season, focus on reinterpreting that work for octet, and showcase for the writing of individual members - one song by each - and record it all. Their debut, SF Jazz Collective, focused on the tunes of Ornette Coleman and was stellar in every way. The Collective went through some personnel changes in their second season: bassist Robert Hurst was replaced by Matt Penman, drummer Brian Blade by Eric Harland, and trombonist Josh Roseman by Isaac Smith. Returning are pianist Renee Rosnes, saxophonists Miguel Zenón and Joshua Redman (the group's artistic director), trumpeter Nicholas Payton, and the legendary vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson…

Andrew Hill returned to the Blue Note label (where he made many significant releases during 1963-80) for a stimulating quintet date with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Greg Osby, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Ben Riley in 1989. The pianist's six originals (which are joined by three alternate takes on the CD) his dense chords behind the other improvisers and his own unpredictable solos are not all overshaowed by his talented sideman, even Osby who is heard in particularly inspired form. There are no weak performances on this superb post bop effort, Andrew Hill's strongest recording in several years.

Esperanza Spalding's debut drives jazz's modern mainstream with a hip-sounding classic piano trio. Her emotional, wordless vocals and conversational bass playing offer a delightful celebration of music as folk art. Spalding's bass playing gets noticed while she interprets traditional jazz favorites as well as fresh new originals.

In its admirable quest to issue fine recordings regardless of genre or outward commercial appeal, Nonesuch Records has released a live disc of the exciting, cross-generational SF Jazz Collective. This self-titled set is taken from a triple-CD collection available only through its website. The band is a who's who of jazz talent, and includes the venerable vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonists Joshua Redman (the group's artistic director), and Miguel Zenón, drummer Brian Blade, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Robert Hurst and trombonist Josh Roseman, with arrangements by Gil Goldstein. The group picks the work of a jazz composer's top study every year, and for 2004 it was Ornette Coleman…

An extraordinary solo performance by one of the most outstanding piano performers on the Italian and international scenes: Antonello Salis. Dynamic, energetic, virtuous, poetic, vigorous, and dashing are just some of the words that come to mind when thinking of Antonello. As put by trumpter and friend Paolo Fresu, "Antonello is a musician who can barely contain his irrepressible energy, displayed in whatever he undertakes: he oozes vitality from every pore. But his talent is not just energy and impetuousness. There's a kind of poetry in his music that catches one by surprise and is as disarming as it is bare and calm".

Arguably John Coltrane's finest all-around album, this recording has brilliant versions of "Afro Blue" and "I Want to Talk About You"; the second half of the latter features Coltrane on unaccompanied tenor tearing into the piece but never losing sight of the fact that it is a beautiful ballad. The remainder of this album ("Alabama," "The Promise," and "Your Lady") is almost at the same high level.

Because "hitting" as percussion, as the primary driving force of sound, the fundamental element of so many musical forms, their organic element and life source, has always been at the centre of most types of Afro-American music and all those derived from it. And because my love for melody, which has always made me want to make the piano sing and use it as a cantabile instrument, has never completely taken me away me from the pleasure of physically hitting the keys, with all its instinctive, earthly connotations.

Avishai Cohen’s third CD for the Stretch Records label, Colors, features the talented bassist, composer, arranger, producer, and pianist trusting his own imagination and intelligence in order to capture the auras of chord progressions and rhythmic patterns with this excellent use of musical metaphors. The composer wrote 13 selections for this program and each is a meeting of artistic colors, each rare and emanating its own originality through Cohen’s sense of harmony, expansive tones, and polyrhythms. His earthy placement of “Shay Ke,” a warm, ballad filled with the funk-Middle Eastern oud solo of Amos Hoffman, vocals of Claudia Acuna, and individual gifts from Jimmy Greene on soprano saxophone, is a prime example of Cohen’s ability to realize his maturing non-conformism. The inclusion of Avi Lebovich on trombone in addition to Steve Davis, makes the experiences of his circle of friends a splendid chance to grow musically.

At Home, Avishai Cohen’s sixth recording as a leader, features eleven profoundly beautiful compositions performed by his trio of Sam Barsh on piano and Mark Guiliana on drums, joined by special guests Yosvany Terry, (saxophones, chekere), Anne Drummond (flute), Diego Urcola (flugelhorn), Jeff Ballard (drums, percussion) and Tomer Tzur (hand drum). At Home reflects on, and celebrates, places, people, emotions and realizations that Cohen has encountered in his many sojourns around the globe, all the while exposing the innermost jubilation and contemplation of the bassist/composer. Stuart Nicholson, commenting on At Home, in Jazzwise Magazine, said “for my money [it’s] the most considered and best realised of all.” Indeed, Cohen exposes his many gifts as a melodic composer, powerful soloist and provoking leader, as never before, reflected in the brilliant performances by the trio and ensemble.