Kevin Whitehead

Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.

The 21-year-old Armstrong, on cornet, was a protégé of New Orleans fellow cornetist and band leader King Joe Oliver. On April 5, 1923, they went into a Richmond, Ind., studio for a two-day session.

When Hersch invited jazz, pop and opera composer Spalding to perform three nights with him at the Village Vanguard, he thought she'd bring her bass. Instead, Spalding just wanted to use her voice.

Tenor saxophonist Davis and organist Scott had one of the great jazz partnerships in the late 1950s. A new anthology focuses on their Cookbook series of albums.

Barron previously recorded most tunes on his album, a few more than once. Now he gives them layers of new meaning and an allusive texture — with occasional hints at Afro-Cuban rhythms and gestures.

When Jamal's trios visited Penthouse jazz club in Seattle in the '60s, they came to play. Now 92, the pianist has signed off on the release of a new series of live recordings from back in the day.

From the beginning, Thumbscrew has had a thing for off-kilter rhythms and shifting accents. This new album is filled with idiosyncratic tunes — music befitting of the idiosyncratic band.

After decades in New York, Watson has returned to Kansas City. The core KC jazz values — a swinging beat, a personal style, and an earthy, bluesy sensibility — are firmly in place on this new album.

Nobody sounds like Waldron, a fact proved by a new 2-CD recording the artist made during a 1978 solo concert. Searching in Grenoble is a good introduction to the pianist's compelling sound.

The Funky Freqs came up playing the post-Corea jazz-rock style known as free funk — music with fewer complicated melodies and more earthy grooving. Their new album is Hymn of the Third Galaxy.