Wayman Tisdale Rebound (Rendezvous) Wayman Tisdale is one funky cat. So what’s country crooner Toby Keith doing here? Turning in one of the most smoldering vocals this side of Barry White, that’s what. The duo’s version of White’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” is, doubtless, one of the disc’s highlights [...]

Claudio Roditi Impressions (Groovin’ High) Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi has spent his four-decade-long career exploring the fertile intersection of bebop and samba. The jazzy variant to the subtle and softly voiced bossa nova of Jobim and Gilberto came into vogue during the early 1960s when pianist Sergio Mendez, trombonist Raul [...]

Dominique Cravic et les Primitifs du Futur Tribal Musette (Sunnyside) Accordions and Edith Piaf are more normally associated with musette than sitars and kotos. But les Primitifs du Futur are not your normal musette band. Guitarist Dominique Cravic’s giddily post-modern take on the bittersweet French cabaret song is full of [...]

Jamie Baum Septet Solace (Sunnyside) The flute has assumed many personalities in jazz. But seldom, if ever, has a straight-on classical approach been applied as forward-leaning as that of Jamie Baum. Baum is the flutist in several groups, including the co-op quartet Timepiece and her critically acclaimed New York septet. [...]

Joe Lovano and Hank Jones Kids: Live At Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Blue Note) Here we have a promethean mid-career saxist and a late-blooming pianist (now 89) making music on a deceptively casual but artistically high plane. They’ve recorded together twice before, but with Kids, recorded live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola [...]

Soulive No Place Like Soul (Stax/Concord) Jazz/funk/soul crew Soulive have featured numerous high-profile guests on previous albums, including John Scofield, Robert Randolph, Chaka Khan, and rappers Talib Kweli and Black Thought, among others. Formerly on Blue Note, they migrated to Concord in 2005 and are now the flagship act for [...]