Nino Josele is the stage name of guitarist Juan Jose Heredia who was born in 1974 in Almeria, Spain. Although primarily a flamenco guitarist Josele is nothing if not versatile having worked in a variety of contexts ranging from flamenco through classical to jazz and even pop.

The band's fifth release, Rain Dances is Camel at its best, offering the most consistent and representative package in their saga. The addition of Caravan-cofounder Richard Sinclair proves profitable, as do a few colorist touches by Brian Eno on "Elke." Mel Collins' woodwinds are among the highlights, especially on "Tell Me" and the title track. From beginning to end, this project flows gracefully.

Tenor giant Joe Henderson worked with Milestone Records for eight years. While he is best remembered for his Blue Note period, Henderson issued some truly great recordings for Milestone. His volume in the label's Milestone Profiles series is one of the best in the bunch. While fans can argue endlessly about what to include or leave off in a best-of series, it's difficult to argue Nick Phillips' choices.

Riverside Profiles contains previously released tracks taken from the alto saxophonist and bandleader's stint with the label from 1959 to 1963. The nine tracks, aimed at the casual listener, include the classics "This Here," "Dizzy's Business," "Jive Samba," "Work Song," and "African Waltz." Cannonball Adderley is backed by an extraordinary roster of jazz musicians, including cornetist brother Nat Adderley; saxophonists Yusef Lateef and Oliver Nelson; trumpeter Blue Mitchell; pianists Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans, and Barry Harris; bassist Sam Jones; and drummers Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, and Louis Hayes. The stellar band lineups and musicianship make this an excellent sampler for the novice. For a limited time, the first pressings in this series include a free bonus compilation CD of Riverside artists. ~ AllMusic Review by Al Campbell

Olivia Trummer (born 12 June 1985 in Stuttgart) is a German Jazz musician (pianist, vocalist, composer). Trummer was raised in a family of musicians and was honored five times at Jugend musiziert as a federal award winner. Since 2003 she studied jazz piano as well as classical piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart. In 2008/2009 she completed a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music. All courses she graduated with honors. During her studies in 2004 and 2006, she was commissioned to write compositions for stage and film music.

This is a fine all-around set from the Cannonball Adderley Quintet of 1960 with the altoist/leader, cornetist Nat Adderley, pianist Victor Feldman, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes. The fifth of seven LPs reissued by Orrin Keepnews and taken from Adderley's Riverside years finds his band in top form on the original version of "Sack O' Woe," a previously unissued "Our Delight," Jimmy Heath's "Big 'P'" and "Blue Daniel" among others. It's a strong introduction to the music of this classic hard bop group. ~ AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

Downbeat is the result of the evolution of Tizer, who have garnered their strong reputation as an electrifying group through tireless touring, both domestically and internationally. The record includes an array of flavors; Afro-Cuban and world rhythms mixed with the best of jazz, rock, classical, and even jam-band influences. Downbeat is a progressive return to the spirit of the 70's best jazz-fusion records; a pristine studio sound and production capturing the live energy and interaction that can only come from a band truly working and playing together! The record includes numerous compositions by Lao as well as collaborative works with the group and features the first single "World In Rhythm," a co-write by Lao & Chieli.

South Korean singer Yeahwon Shin’s ECM debut, “Lua ya” is a gentle album of songs and lullabies, recorded in 2012 in the spacious acoustics of Mechanics Hall, near Boston. It’s a very intuitive set, shaped by “improvising, listening to our childhood memories and letting the music flow”, as Yeahwon says. Shin and pianist Aaron Parks played together just once before the present recording, finding “an instant improvisational connection” which is further explored here. Accordionist Rob Curto shares with Yeahwon an affinity for Brazilian music and has collaborated with her previously (in contexts including her Latin Grammy-nominated album “Yeahwon” on ArtistShare).

In April 2013, Spyro Gyra entered a recording studio in Rhinebeck, NY, a small town in the Hudson Valley. Jay Beckenstein and his band set out to do something that they had never done before in their nearly forty year history – improvise with each other over three days and in the process write and record an entire new album. Beckenstein concedes, “It was a bit of a gamble but we’re lucky to have a loyal fan base who are probably going to be interested in what we’re doing. I was also fairly confident that whatever came out of it would be pretty close to the way we have approached our live shows for years.”

A New Sound… A New Star… (subtitled Jimmy Smith at the Organ Vol. 1) is the debut album by Jimmy Smith featuring performances recorded in 1956 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was rereleased on CD combined with Smith's following two LP's A New Sound A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ Volume 2 and The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ.
With less of an emphasis of low-key blues numbers than subsequent albums, the work here is informed by the energy and harmonic sophistication of bebop, and Smith is incandescent throughout…

This isn't just a 2-CD set of some unbelievable guitar work from a long-esteemed player of truly formidable skill but rather a treasury that proves beyond doubt that Melvin Taylor needs to be placed within the museum of the guitar greats: Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Chet Atkins, Frank Zappa, Earl Klugh, Jim Hall, Leo Kottke, Robert Fripp, Grant Green, Pat Metheny…all of 'em, regardless of style and genre. And he not only plays all the many layers of various guitars here but bass as well in a nominally foursome format.

Deluxe treatment for one of the most important works by Piero Piccioni, includes the complete film score plus the 1974 album version. Appassionata (1974) was a sexually-charged production starring Gabriele Ferzetti, Valentina Cortese, Ornella Muti and Elenora Giorgi. Chronicling the competition of two nubile girls who attempt to seduce the patriarch of a household, Gianluigi Calderone’s movie didn’t shy away from depicting such forbidden subjects as incest or the early sexual awakening of teenagers. This disturbing story was made more all the sensual by the lush underscore of Piero Piccioni.

Willie Bobo pulled an impressive lineup for his debut as a leader, due in part to a profile gained from his work with Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann. Leading the brass section in this midsized group is trumpeter Clark Terry, who lends the necessary grit and fire, while Joe Farrell's burring tenor gives the record dynamic range. Though Bobo's percussion kit is displayed on the front, it's occasionally difficult to appreciate his playing on the record; he sounds bored and in the background during a trio of Brazilian crossover numbers (this was the year of Jazz Samba, after all), leaving organist Frank Anderson to flare his way playfully through his own "Bossa Nova in Blue." Bobo does finally allow himself some solo space at the end of "Capers," after several minutes of brilliant interplay between brass and reeds. The highlight comes with the group's interpretation of Freddie Hubbard's "Crisis," a slow-burning hard bop number with Bobo's timbales shuffle framing more excellent sectioning, with Farrell's tenor and an unnamed trombone positioned in counterpoint to Terry's trumpet.

Pianist Gerald Clayton is set to release his Blue Note Records debut Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard on July 10. Recorded at the legendary NYC jazz club with a quintet of longtime collaborators—Logan Richardson on alto saxophone, Walter Smith III on tenor saxophone, Joe Sanders on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums—Happening spotlights Clayton’s layered identity as a leader.

In a musical career that has spanned seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Jones has distinguished himself as a bandleader, a solo artist, a sideman, a songwriter, a producer, an arranger, a film composer, and a record label executive, and outside of music, he's also written books, produced major motion pictures, and helped create television series. And a quick look at a few of the artists Jones has worked with suggests the remarkable diversity of his career – Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, and Aretha Franklin. Quincy Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner, alongside Lou Adler, of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Among his awards, Jones was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century.