Trumpeter Dave Douglas has participated in so many styles of music that listing them all would be mesmerizing. Some of his best work has been performed in free style and hard bop jazz groups. Here, he charts a different path, albeit one that he has pursued successfully before, in a mellow, lovely vein. Douglas is the only horn, backed by Guy Klucevsek's eclectic accordion, Mark Feldman's gloriously sweet violin, and Greg Cohen's acoustic string bass. With some exceptions, the dynamics are generally low, the tempos slow, and the mood serene. There is almost a post-minimalism to it all, capped by the exquisite sound of Douglas' trumpet.

Crop Circles is the inevitable meeting of two remarkable female artists. Both pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson have distinguished careers. Courvoisier in her quartet, her large ensemble, and Mephista (a trio with Ikue Mori and Susie Ibarra). Halvorson leads a trio, quintet, septet, octet and is a member multiple bands including Thumbscrew, Anthony Braxton's ensembles and those of Taylor Ho Bynum. Both women often perform and record solo and in duo, Courvoisier with Mark Feldman and Evan Parker and Halvorson with Stephan Crump, Jessica Pavone, and Weasel Walter.

Arve Henriksen's follow-up to his first solo CD, Sakuteiki, Chiaroscuro sees him exploring the same ethereal pastures, this time accompanied by sampling artist Jan Bang and percussionist Audun Kleive. As a result, the album has of course a fuller, busier sound, although the increment is discreet. Slightly closer in style to the softer moments of Supersilent, the album remains nonetheless the recognizable successor of Sakuteiki. Henriksen's trumpet is the heart and soul of the music, uttering simple slow-paced themes and lonesome calls. The artist sings wordless melodies, his falsetto voice becoming an extension of the trumpet, instead of the other way around.

Vessel in Orbit presents the first new group music in over a decade from singular drummer-composer Whit Dickey. It is a richly melodic and deeply focused album; structural integrity and emotional resonance are paramount throughout. Created together with the impeccable improvisers Mat Maneri on viola and pianist Matthew Shipp, each of these men has a lifetime commitment to creative music, and they share a musical relationship with one another that dates back decades. Dickey’s wonderfully inviting compositional structures provide fruitful platforms for his esteemed colleagues and, par for his work as a leader, he cedes the spotlight to the collective as a whole. Wide-open listening and fluid expression abound here.

It’s not easy for drummers to get the spotlight, especially if they’re the non-singing kind—no matter how prodigiously talented they may be. For every Ahmir “Questlove” Johnson (the Roots) or Damon Che (Don Caballero), there are hundreds of anonymous men and women who pound the back beat while their bandmates take center stage. After years of playing back-up to others, including many in the Leaving and Brainfeeder label nexuses (and, curiously, accompanying Wordpress founder Matthew Mullenweg in his senior recital as a jazz major), drummer Jamire William’ establishes his voice on solo debut ///// Effectual, a surprisingly satisfying record composed almost entirely of his own drumming.

Oneness is the 2003 album by musician Kali Z. Fasteau. This was released on her own label, Flying Note.

Paradigm Shift is an album released in 2016 by Francesco Chiapperini's InSight. Chiapperini plays a number of different instruments for years and he does it here with Simone Quatrana and Simone Lobina. This is an Autn release.

Il Sistema Periodico is the 2016 album by DST. Consisting of Alberto Collodel and Simone di Benedetto, this comes courtesy of the Aut label.

Naca is the 2016 album by trombonist Tony Cattano. Released via Aut, the music was recorded last year in Italy.

Godard/Spillane is a compilation album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn consisting of music created through Zorn's file-card compositional process. He first released the composition "Godard", a tribute to French film-maker Jean-Luc Godard whose jump-cut technique inspired Zorn's compositional approach, on the French tribute album The Godard Fans: Godard Ca Vous Chante? in 1986, "Spillane was first released on Zorn's Nonesuch Records album Spillane in 1987 and "Blues Noel" was first released on the compilation album Joyeux Noel - Merry Christmas Everybody! on the French Nato label in 1987.

Repercussion Unit is an American percussion ensemble, founded in 1976.

"Four discs of solo experimentation from American trumpet conceptualist Nate Wooley, which represent the full history of his radical "Syllables" solo music, which replaces the standard technique of the trumpet with the mechanics of producing speech. Included are re-releases of his early [8] Syllables and [9] Syllables CDs, both long out of print, as well as the premiere recording of the epic acoustic/electro-acoustic finale: "For Kenneth Gaburo" spanning 150 minutes on two discs.

Sometimes it's best not to predict. If the idea of expanding Fire!'s core trio of saxophonist/electric pianist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werlin into Fire! Orchestra's massive, 28-piece behemoth was based on the trio's extant discography— You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago (Rune Grammofon, 2009), Unreleased (Rune Grammofon, 2011), and In the Mouth of a Hand Rune Grammofon, 2012)—then a relentless album of high energy and high volume density would be expected. Which makes Exit! a complete and utter surprise, and in the best possible way.

Florian Chaigne is behind the 2016 album Blooming. This was released by the Aut label on 24 October, 2016.

From the title it's fairly obvious that Stanko is dedicating this work to his former boss and compatriot, the late Kryzsztof Komeda, who had passed a few years before. But it's difficult to believe that this was recorded in 1970. Stanko's quintet was so fully versed in the free jazz aesthetic and pursued to fuse it to the European classicism and avant-gardism of his native Poland. There are five tracks here, all part of a larger suite that is opened and closed by a theme. Stanko's writing is for a large harmonic palette realizable by two saxophones and his own trumpet with a rhythm section.