An exciting and high-powered virtuoso pianist, Michel Camilo came from a very musical family (with all nine of his uncles being musicians). Originally playing accordion, he switched to piano when he was 16. After moving to New York in 1979, his song "Why Not?" became a hit for the Manhattan Transfer and caught on as a standard, and "Caribe" entered the repertoire of Dizzy Gillespie. Camilo, who worked with Paquito d'Rivera's band for three years (cutting an album with "Why Not?" as the title cut), recorded for Electric Bird (sessions reissued by Evidence) and Columbia, and worked as a leader beginning in the mid-'80s.

Kenny Wheeler has long been a talented composer, improviser, and soloist, though he is still overlooked by some jazz fans because most of his work has been issued by European labels. Among the composers of his generation, Wheeler is one of the best, along with the late Bob Brookmeyer, in writing and scoring creative works for a large ensemble. For this session, Wheeler's charts are performed by a 17-piece big band – with the addition of Diana Torto's wordless vocals – conducted by Pete Churchill.

There's a simple, basic, and direct approach that pervades the duets from pianist Camilo and acoustic guitarist Tomatito. But that seemingly bottom-line approach is transcended by the brilliant musicianship of these two players, as they play ultra-melodic music to its ultimate zenith time and time again. The tone is set from the get go as they languish in the freedom of Rodrigo and Chick Corea's "Spain," played as perfectly and spirited as anyone could want. But "Besame Mucho" is changed up, interpreted in loose associations extrapolated out of strict time on this famous melody. Tomatito wrote two of the eight tracks as the pair use a combination of counterpoint and unison lines, approaching sheer telepathy on the brightly melodic "A Mi Nino Jose," while evoking more Chick Corea-isms with melodies passionately flying about on "La Vacilona."

In addition to being one of Beethovens most emblematic works, the Piano Sonata no.32 op.111 (1821-22) is a manifesto of radical modernity. It begins the process of disintegration of sonata form, a formal pillar for any composer of the preceding century, and introduces in its second movement a new method of constructing the musical phrase, to such an extent that some commentators regard it as marking the first stirrings of jazz. The innovations it presented, particularly in the field of rhythm, left most of the composers contemporaries perplexed. Here is an ideal space for the Aka Moon trio to occupy. It has called on three strong musical personalities for the occasion: the singer Fredy Massamba, who contributes his expressive power as an African storyteller.

THRU MY EYES is pianist Michel Camilo's take on his favorite standard tunes. With but a few exceptions, Camilo, being such an accomplished composer, has found little need in past efforts to resort to covering other artist's songs. Here, however, his keen musical taste has yielded a collection of 12 outstanding interpretations of some of the best Latin-flavored gems in the repertoire. With such high-class sidemen as Anthony Jackson, John Patitucci and percussion powerhouse Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Camilo has turned in yet another top-flight performance.

The bass is really up front on this one. This is the most fully formed Mick Karn album, but still something seems to be missing. Or it's really that there should be more missing. Sometimes all the instrumentation gets a bit to busy. I could do without a lot of the guitar for instance. Although nothing here can obscure some of the greatest bass lines Karn's come up with. Songs like "Plaster the Magic Tongue" and a few others will amaze the bass crazed. There's lots of middle eastern and jazz fusion sounds to be found here. It's similar to Bestial Cluster just more consistently good, and sometimes darker or more middle eastern sounding. Mick Karn's best up to this point.

Stanley Turrentine's stint with Creed Taylor's CTI label may not have produced any out-and-out classics on the level of the very best LPs by Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, or George Benson, but the bluesy tenorist's output was consistently strong and worthwhile for all but the most stridently anti-fusion listeners. Salt Song was Turrentine's second album for CTI, and while it's perhaps just a small cut below his debut Sugar, it's another fine, eclectic outing that falls squarely into the signature CTI fusion sound: smooth but not slick, accessible but not simplistic. In general, keyboardist Eumir Deodato's arrangements have plenty of light funk and Brazilian underpinnings, the latter often courtesy of percussionist Airto Moreira…

Michel Camilo is a very powerful Latin jazz pianist who is quite capable of playing several rhythms at once. He emulates an orchestra even when playing solo, so it is not surprising that this outing with 21 other musicians in an impressive all-star band is intense and passionate. Camilo performs ten of his originals on this date including the blues "One More Once," an atmospheric "Dreamlight," "Caribe," "Just Kidding" and his "hit" "Why Not."

Karin Krog is one of Europe's leading jazz singers with a career stretching back to the 1950s. She is a unique song artist with a great international reputation possessing her own recognizable style and voice. Her constant creative approach towards contemporary jazz has never been bound by tradition, even though her music bears a deep respect for its forms. Karin is equally at home with jazz standards, blues or electronic experimental techniques. Originally released by Sonet Records this reissue of a 1966 session features an all-star line-up. A young Jan Garbarek is featured on two tracks and the stellar rhytm section is made up of Kenny Drew on piano, Niels Henning-Orsted Pedersen on bass and Jon Christensen on drums.

Honesty is a compiled disc of Pastorius' solo performances while on tour with guitarist Bireli Lagrene and drummer Tomas Böröcz in Europe on his last run through the continent before dying in Florida the next year. This set, consisting entirely of Pastorius solos, sounds excessive – it is. There is no other recording remotely like it. But it's not for bass players only; in fact, as music, it stands up just fine, but, more importantly, it showcases just how restless, musical, and enigmatic a bassist Pastorius was. Each selection is numbered as a part, and each one showcases at least one or two of the artist's major styles of playing, in specific genres, and within them are three or four others whispering, shouting, or just presenting themselves to the listener.

The Denver-based trio Dotsero has been part of the smooth jazz landscape since the early days (making their debut in 1990), but despite a handful of picture-perfect efforts, the band has rarely received the popularity its music is due. All that should change with West of Westchester, their debut for Russ Freeman's Peak label, which was produced by the Rippingtons leader. Freeman adds numerous exotic and electronic effects to Dotsero's core sound of light-hearted melodies driven by Michael Friedman's plucky bass frolicking beneath Stephen Watts' optimistic sax lines. The title track, a cover of a classic Bob James tune, begins with a feisty blend of David Watts' echoing wah-wah guitar and trip-hoppy drum'n'bass percussion over Kip Kuepper's hypnotic electric keyboard riffs. Watts' rich alto melody on "Lodo Mojo" is backed by more wah-wah echo and a dreamy ambience, all enhanced by a shaker percussion groove.

The idea of hybridity has been central to the music of alto saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa throughout his career. Most prominent, of course, has been his highly original fusion of east and west, jazz mixed with the sounds of his Indian heritage. But that’s too easy and linear a depiction of this open-eared and inventive composer, who has absorbed an enormous variety of music into his thinking and amalgamated it into a singular vision. On his new ACT release, Gamak, Mahanthappa continues that multi-directional evolution with a bold, striking set of music that melds leading-edge jazz with innovative reinterpretations of traditional Indian and Middle Eastern approaches, shot through with an electric jolt of prog-rock complexity.

Salvador Niebla has his own band NATURAL ENERGY with whom he has recorded his first LP titled Azul acting as composer and arranger, and 26 musicians from Spain and Tunisia participated in this project. He has recorded and collaborated with a wide variety of musicians representing many different musical styles.

Electric bassist David Dyson has made his mark as a sideman with Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Pieces of a Dream, and the band (which also included Bob Belden) featured on Tim Hagans' Animation - Imagination. On his solo debut, Dyson handles just about everything by himself, including bass, keyboards, drum programming, sampling, and assorted spoken word vocal spots. There are a couple of guest keyboardists and saxophonists, and John Stoddart sings well on "Spin Cycle." But Dyson's bass is the dominant presence, deployed often via overdubs as a melody and chording instrument. His tracks lean heavily toward funk, R&B, and dance beats, and this, together with the electric bass emphasis, makes Dyson's music somewhat similar to Marcus Miller's. Jazz listeners might find it a bit commercial overall, although Dyson crafts some edgy harmonic progressions, hard grooves, and intelligent songs.

If ever there were a record that both fit perfectly and stood outside the CTI Records' stable sound, it is Sugar by Stanley Turrentine. Turrentine, a veteran of the soul-jazz scene since the '50s, was accompanied by a who's who of groove players, including guitarist George Benson, Lonnie Liston Smith on electric piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, bassist Ron Carter, organist Butch Cornell, and drummer Billy Kaye, among others. The title track is a deep soul blues workout with a swinging backbeat and the rhythm section fluidly streaming through fours and eights as Benson, Hubbard, and Turrentine begin slowly and crank up the heat, making the pace and stride of the cut simmer then pop - especially in Hubbard's solo. This is truly midnight blue, and the party's at the point of getting really serious or about to break up…