Thomas Conrad, Fred Kaplan

The Cookers: Look Out!, David Sanford Big Band: A Prayer for Lester Bowie, Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now and Marcin Wasilewski Trio: En Attendant.

Johnathan Blake: Homeward Bound, Bill Charlap Trio: Street of Dreams, Renee Rosnes: Kinds of Love and Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Nina Simone: The Montreux Years, Dmitry Baevsky: Soundtrack, David Helbock: The New Cool and Roy Hargrove/Mulgrew Miller: In Harmony.

Gil Evans Orchestra: Out of the Cool, Harold Land: Westward Bound!, Hasaan Ibn Ali: Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album and Chris Potter Circuits Trio: Sunrise Reprise.

Francesco Cafiso: Irene of Boston
Cafiso, alto saxophone; London Symphony Orchestra; four others
EFLAT EF0003 (CD, available as download, LP). 2020. EFLAT, prod.; Riccardo Piparo, Mat Bartram, Francesco Lupi, Roberto Romano, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****

The first time I heard Francesco Cafiso, I thought I was hallucinating. It was 2005. I had flown to Australia from Seattle to cover the Melbourne Jazz Festival. Cafiso appeared the first night. He was 15. He played the most outrageous bebop I had ever heard outside of Charlie Parker records. I thought I was delusional from jet lag.

Mario Rom's Interzone: Eternal Fiction, Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas' Soundprints: Other Worlds, Jack Brandfield: I'll Never Be the Same and Charles Lloyd & The Marvels: Tone Poem.

Sarah Vaughan: Sarah Vaughan, Ocelot: Ocelot and Jim Snidero: Live at the Deer Head Inn.