Anthony Wilson, "Collodion" (Colorfield). Wilson sounds both liberated from and newly enamored of his guitar in a suite of electronified adventures. Plunging into the limitless world of keyboards and rhythm programming, the journeyman jazzer (Charles Lloyd, Diana Krall, Gerald Wilson, many solo titles) locates a beautiful, ever-percolating sensuality that could entice listeners of all ages. Local aces such as saxist Daniel Rotem and bassist Anna Butterss drop in, but this comes off as an interior journey aided only by the astrolabe of producer Pete Min. Rarely does an artist in midcareer blaze a new path with such confidence and success. Listen/buy here.
Tiner/Nakatani, "The Magic Room" (Epigraph). Trumpeter/flugelhornist Kris Tiner and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani occupied a vacant Bakersfield Woolworth's to address its unique acoustics, and the walls spoke back. Buildings absorb the emotions of their occupants; it requires only two such seasoned listeners to open a conversation. We hear the loneliness of the desert, the wrangle of dispute, the elbowing of holiday sales, the hopes, the failures, the saws of renovations that have passed their hours on this stage since the store was opened in 1949. And of course, Tiner and Nakatani converse with each other as well, making themselves members of an infinite ensemble. A very human experience. Listen/buy here.
Steuart Liebig, "Denouements," (Steuart Liebig Music Projects). Liebig's compositions for synthesizers have become ever more detailed in their depth, sparkle and use of the sound field. Drones and tidal surges establish moods of dark meditation alleviated by moments of intuitive hope. The last track feels like a reverse birth, a clawing back into the earth, where a terrible light finally grows. Sample a range of Liebig's music here.
David Strother, "Ghost Voices." The genuine quality of Strother's violin penetrates from the first note as he explores the soul and the electronic circuit, joined on the spirit plane. Arabesques circle the heartbeat; a woman weeps quietly; coyotes listen to a midnight prayer. It's over in 11 minutes, then repeat. Listen/buy here.
Carlos Niño & Friends, "(I'm Just) Chillin' on Fire" (International Anthem). Nobody chills like Carlos, so intelligently and communally. The grooves, the shivering watery tones, the drifts of percussion, all keep your respiration going thanks to Niño's crew including guitarist Nate Mercereau, saxist Josh Johnson, keyboardist Surya Botofasina and more names you might recognize from the L.A. scene, younger and older. Crusty obsessions just won't abide with all this positive bubblation going on -- whoosh, you're cleansed. Sample/buy here; releases Sept. 15.
Michael Vlatkovich Sextet, "Live at the Alligator Lounge" (Christopher Garcia Music Projects). Trombonist Vlatkovich had been simmering his extraordinary compositions with his handpicked ensemble for three years and three tours when they hit Nels Cline's New Music Mondays at West L.A.'s Alligator Lounge in 1993. Saxist Bill Plake, trumpeter Rob Blakeslee, bassist Anders Swanson, drummer Christopher Garcia, and old friend Vinny Golia (acting as local auxiliary on woodwinds) hopped and slid through the "tunes," which had become intrinsic to these musicians' DNA so that harmonies, tempos and even structures could be reconstituted and detoured according to Vlatkovich's impromptu directions and the impulses of the group mind. The inventive, sometimes bluesy and sometimes challenging mini-symphonies therefore never lose cohesion or the ability to delight, and this rediscovery stands as a historic occasion. (Click the little "expand" arrow to read Mr. Garcia's eye-opening notes.) Listen/buy here.