For a fellow who’s been recording since 1963, pianist Denny Zeitlin (from the Chicago area, btw) doesn’t have a huge discography it must be his parallel gig keeping him from the keys: psychiatry. (But he did find time to compose the electronica-laced score the creepy 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.) More recent history, Zeitlin has kept an exemplary super-exemplary, in fact trio performing & recording for about five years. Bass ace Buster Williams

This David Berkman fellow you’d better be on the lookout for him. However, he might be too tasteful and unassuming for his own good like piano aces Cedar Walton and Larry Willis, he’s got tremendous technique but he uses it to serve the music, not his ego, and like them, his style is so unfailingly lyrical, imaginative yet unhurried, subtle, tasty and tasteful, it’d be easy to take him for granted in a world with so many other, more effusive, "dynamic" piano masters. At Chicago’s

This young Mr. Chris Potter has proven his tenor saxophonic mettle on many recordings, both on his own and in the service of Dave Holland and Dave Douglas. Though he has several fine discs under his own leadership, the only one (thus far) that’s knocked me for a loop is his latest, Underground (Sunnyside), which has my vote for the year’s most dazzling disc du jazz. While even edgiest musicians these days prove themselves to be predictable, Potter is

For those who’ve been taking an extended nap, drummer Matt Wilson has been establishing himself as, in the words of serious-minded critics, an exciting presence on the American scene. Whether he’s tapping the tubs for big daddies such as Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, and Denny Zeitlin or leading a couple of very different but engaging quartets, Illinois-bred drummer/leader/composer Wilson is indeed a major contender. How? Why? The answer lay on a cold, rain, snow, and slee

First off, the "obvious" intro-type stuff: Pat Metheny is one of Our Time’s primo jazz guitarists and bandleaders, a virtual "jazz ambassador" in that he’s valued by hardcore jazz fans as well as casual jazz fans and folk who aren’t particularly jazz fans at all. While a dedicated jazz musician, Metheny’s approach encompasses influences of folk, rock, country, and "free" improvisation, and accents bright, engaging, festive melodies. Further, he makes full use of the available sound-altering tech