The second ECM album from this Polish-Swedish-British edition of the Tomasz Stanko Quartet follows the critically-heralded Matka Joanna. As Jazz Journal wrote, 'Trumpeter Stanko's vibrant breadth of tone and poetic feeling for cross-rhythmic drama are second to none.' Leosia marks a further progression, incorporating six first-rate Stanko compositions in his brooding 'Slavic' style, darker than the darkest Miles (and incorporating a tribute to Lautréamont, literature's Count of Darkness), as well as bracing and exploratory duo and trio improvisations, and solos of the higherst calibre by all concerned. The group has an unusual claim on idiomatic completeness; it seems to summarize, in highly original manner, many of the important developments of jazz of the last 30 years…

Performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra, conducted by Wang Yongji. Truly celestial and a different feeling than American / European performances of this famous piece. This CD also contains David Mingyue Lang's gorgeous Music of a Thousand Springs and his Zen (Ch'an) of Water. Highly recommended.

Longtime Morcheeba fans that found their sunshine bright album The Antidote a complete disappointment couldn't ask for a better follow-up than Dive Deep. Making that other unloved effort seem like a mislabeled side project, Dive Deep finds multi-instrumentalists the Godfrey brothers returning to the murky, moody kind of downtempo and trip-hop of their early days, just without original vocalist Skye Edwards, or for that matter, Antidote's vocalist Daisy Martey. Instead, they go about it Zero 7 style, utilizing a series of guest vocalists including smooth rapper Cool Calm Pete, alternative singer/songwriter Thomas Dybdahl, and most surprisingly, pop/rock veteran Judie Tzuke, who brings a welcome, folk-tinged sound that serves to connect the dots here between soft rock and Portishead. Tzuke's "Enjoy the Ride" and "Blue Chair" are the mellow highlights to curl up with, while Dybdahl's trilogy of songs – "Riverbed," "Sleep on It Tonight," and "Washed Away" – finds his poetic musings on all things melancholy perfectly packaged in Morcheeba's lazy sway.

The set that made Cray a pop star, despite its enduring blues base. Cray's smoldering stance on "Smoking Gun" and "Right Next Door" rendered him the first sex symbol to emerge from the blues field in decades, but it was his innovative expansion of the genre itself that makes this album a genuine 1980s classic. "Nothing but a Woman" boasts an irresistible groove pushed by the Memphis Horns and some metaphorically inspired lyrics, while "I Wonder" and "Guess I Showed Her" sizzle with sensuality.