From Steinway & Sons' growing catalog of personal and beautifully recorded piano recitals comes this one from Chinese pianist Shen Lu, whose training includes stints in Beijing, Boston, and Cleveland. Chinese musicians are said to be seeking out American teachers as a way of adding freedom and originality to their thinking, and that seems to be what's happening here. Some might find more crackling versions of, say, Ravel's Miroirs than the one delivered here by Shen, but it fits in with the rest of the program in a way that keeps listeners absorbed to a degree than another instance of mechanistic virtuosity might not. The program maintains a theme of "impressionistic" depiction, filtering it through the East/West divide and through subdivisions of each.

Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue and his innovative 18-piece big band Secret Society will release their third album, Real Enemies, out September 30, 2016. Composed by Argue, Real Enemies is a 13-chapter exploration of America’s fascination with conspiracy theories; narratives behind the Red Scare, the Illuminati, Edward Snowden, and alien sightings are meticulously examined and interrogated through Argue’s dazzling score.

Supertrio the Rides – Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg – return May 6 with Pierced Arrow, their first release since their debut album Can’t Get Enough tapped into Blues Rock Review’s Top 20 Albums of 2013. Like Can’t Get Enough, Pierced Arrow is a mixture of originals (like the Stills-penned single “Virtual World”) and covers (like the jaunty “My Babe,” written by Willie Dixon), all played with the technical skill one expects of three seasoned musicians. The biggest takeaway from Pierced Arrow is its unity: while some songs show evidence of each artist’s past projects (especially “Virtual World,” which is reminiscent of Stills’ work with Buffalo Springfield five decades ago), the album as a whole nods to the time the Rides spent touring, performing and writing together as a team.

Healing is a subdued, reflective effort unlike anything else in Todd Rundgren's catalog. Certainly, there are some familiar elements throughout Healing, particularly on majestic ballads like "Compassion," but there are more new variations on his style since any album since Initiation. Not coincidentally, that record had hints of the spirituality that surges to the forefront on Healing, but it was nowhere near as musically focused as the latter record.