Guardian Music — (Hep Jazz)As Glasgow Herald jazz writer Rob Adams points out in the sleevenotes to this long-unavailable 1989 release, Scottish saxist Bobby Wellins deserves a composer's reputation alongside the illustrious one he's had as an improviser (his tone in... more info

Guardian Music — The multi award-winning graduates of Berklee College in the US have expanded the scope of rock, jazz and popRoger Brown, 55, has presided over the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, since 2004. Reputedly the world's top school for "mo... more info

Guardian Music — (In & Out)With this solo set of seven originals, two Thelonious Monk themes and three standards, Lynne Arriale, a former classical pianist from Milwaukee, has taken a long-postponed plunge into unaccompanied performance. Arriale isn't an edgy artist,... more info

Guardian Music — (ECM)Veteran pianist Steve Kuhn is in the same class as label-mate Keith Jarrett: a virtuoso improviser who injects new life into familiar material. Kuhn's sophistication with harmony and delicacy of touch are in evidence throughout this session, sh... more info

Mercury News, California — His Wednesday appearance was just one of many by piano giants coming to Berkeley through mid-June, including Richard Goode, Peter Serkin and Keith Jarrett. more info

Guardian Music — (ECM)When the popular Norwegian jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen expanded his regular trio to a quartet, adding atmospheric saxophonist Tore Brunborg for the album Restored Returned, he found his perfect band. The Well (which joins new material commissio... more info

Guardian Music — (Concord Jazz)There was a time in the 1970s and early 80s when the jazz-averse, if they wanted to show why jazz couldn't touch the punch of pop or rock, would rest their case on the fragile murmurings of the acoustic piano trio. The hiss of a drum... more info

Guardian Music — When its star artist Esbjörn Svensson died in a scuba accident, ACT Records almost called it a day. Instead, it's just reached its 20th anniversary on top of the jazz worldIf Stax, Motown or Sun Records figure in pop iconography as labels almost as ... more info

Guardian Music — Radiodreams (ACT)2012 is the 20th-anniversary year of ACT Records, the adventurous German label, founded by former Warner exec Siggi Loch, that introduced the late Esbjörn Svensson to the world. It now supports cutting-edge mavericks such as pianist... more info

Guardian Music — Innovative free-jazz percussionist who took improvisation to new heightsThe American percussionist, composer and bandleader Paul Motian, who has died aged 80, was perhaps most famous for enhancing the work of a brilliant jazz pianist. This he did no... more info