The Blue Note 7

Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records

The Hot Club of San Francisco

Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt

and the Impressionists

Azica Records

Bill Henderson

Beautiful Memory: Live at The Vic

Ahuh Productions

Sonny Rollins

Road Shows, Vol. 1

Doxy Records

Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway

A Duet of One: Live at the Bakery

IPO Recordings

Mark Winkler

Till I Get It Right

FreeHam Records

The Sons of Brasil

While You Were Out

Standing Bear Records

THE BLUE NOTE 7

Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records

It is rare when a clever marketing ploy to sell CDs and concert tickets also results in a high-quality product capable of standing alone as a work of great creativity and artistic integrity. So it is with “Mosaic,” a brilliant project conceived to celebrate Blue Note’s 70^th anniversary as one of the premier jazz labels. Released in January, the recording brings together a septet of today’s leading proponents of post-bop jazz. That makes this a poignant tribute to an earlier generation of jazz masters.

THE HOT CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO

Bohemian Maestro

Azica Records

Always looking for ways to expand the narrow confines of the “gypsy jazz” style inevitably tied to its virtuosic innovators, guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli, The Hot Club of San Francisco has embraced not only the standards of the gypsy jazz repertoire, but more conventional modern jazz favorites, as well as pop tunes by Lennon and McCartney and even a couple of classical composers. But the Bay area band has surpassed itself in this release's adventurous spirit.

BILL HENDERSON

Beautiful Memory: Live at The Vic

Ahuh Productions

At age 78, the wonderful jazz singer Bill Henderson finally has a new recording that puts him in historical perspective and provides a stunning setting for his still-amazing vocal gifts. The venue is The Vic, a club in Santa Monica, Calif., near his longtime home in Los Angeles. With “Beautiful Memory,’ Henderson steps fully into the warm glow of the spotlight.

SONNY ROLLINS

Road Shows, Vol. 1

Doxy Records

Sonny Rollins’ tightrope-walking, extended improvisations on the tenor saxophone are best appreciated in live performance, but—like anyone—he is not always at the top of his game. That’s what makes “Road Shows, Vol. 1” so enjoyable. It serves up some of the best Rollins recordings captured over the last several decades and instantly re-establishes his credentials as a giant among jazzmen.

EDDIE DANIELS AND ROGER KELLAWAY

A Duet of One: Live at the Bakery

IPO Recordings

Aptly named, “A Duet of One” rightfully implies the singularity of purpose, the extrasensory dialogue and the compatible virtuosity of clarinetist Eddie Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway. It also implies the seat-of-the-pants immediacy of its live setting, The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, where it was recorded March 30 to April 2, 2005. Not released until 2008, this very live session is another jewel from IPO Recordings.

MARK WINKLER

Till I Get It Right

FreeHam Records

“Till I Get It Right” is the welcome return of jazzy vocalist Mark Winkler, six years after his wonderful tribute to Bobby Troup, the composer of such hip classics as “Route 66.” His latest is a showcase for his own lyric-writing talents and his ability to shift gears from uptempo swingers to romantic ballads. Based in Los Angeles, Winkler has assembled a crack West Coast band featuring saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Anthony Wilson, trumpeter Ron Blake, keyboardist Jamieson Trotter, bassist Dan Lutz and drummer Steve Hass.

THE SONS OF BRASIL

While You Were Out

Standing Bear Records

With a reputation so firmly established in the world of Latin jazz and, in particular, those subgenres of Brazilian samba, bossa nova and choro, it comes as a surprise that The Sons of Brazil had, until recently, only one recording in 17 years. To the band’s enthusiastic fan base, which extends well beyond its Kansas City, Mo., home, the arrival of “While You Were Out” is long overdue.

Guitarist David Boswell is among the many fusion jazz pickers who openly emulate Pat Metheny, arguably the most influential guitarist of the last 30 years. Boswell, a San Francisco native, goes so far as to characterize a Metheny concert that he attended at age 16 as "a religious experience." Boswell’s approach to the music is not mere slavish duplication. With his third solo effort, 2009’s "I Like That," he builds on the fusion model with a strong band of like-minded adventurers.