Sicilian Opening is an extraordinarily pleasant modern jazz offering from the veteran Italian jazz pianist and his highly capable trio. What I admire most about this CD is the trio’s obvious musical chemistry, and their ability to create jazz that – while not on the cutting edge, stylistically – manages to challenge the listener despite being quite accessible and pleasant to listen to. Like the Hungarian-born pianist (and Boston resident) Laszlo Gardony, Bonafede has a strong affinity for Americ

Drummer / composer / arranger Mark Lomax drives a free-leaning tenor sax-fronted power trio with sure hands and graceful instincts on his fifth recording as a leader, The State Of Black America. The Blacksburg, VA native, an active music educator, and drum clinician has also worked with Azar Lawrence, Delfeayo Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, and Marlon Jordan. Lomax' compositions, while firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, give bassist Dean Hulett and tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard plenty of room for

Trumpeter Ron Miles is one of those musicians who is always doing something that is worth paying attention to. This disc – prosaically titled 3ology With Ron Miles - is no exception. 3ology is a Denver-based saxophone – bass – drums trio that performs groove-based improvised music. Clearly, these three fellows have been playing together for quite some time – they've established a rich and multi-layered rapport, and never fall prey to all the sorts of excesses I associate with free improvisation

Brian Landrus is a talented, young, multi-reedist whose primary horn is the baritone saxophone. Though more attuned to the post-Coltrane sound, his technique and sound on the bari evoke great old school players such as Nick Brignola and Pepper Adams. He's also an extremely capable flutist and clarinetist. I particularly enjoyed his rich, woody bass, clarinet tone. Though clearly a modernist conversant with the more edgy variants of jazz and improvised music, Landrus' debut recording, Forward to

Big City Circus is one of those recordings that defies expectations in more ways than one. Looking at the bass-less trio instrumentation, I assumed this CD was going to be dominated by free-ish or avant-garde type sounds. This turned out not to be the case. Yennoir, best known for his work with Boston's great little big band, The Either/Orchestra, and his trio – while certainly on the quirky side – essentially maintain a reserved, swinging sound throughout “Big City Circus.” Yennoir's sound on t