Ten years ago, Esperanza Spalding reached for greater creative accomplishment while still holding an audience on Radio Music Society. It was a jazz record that got popular without pandering.
Joe Lovano's debut for the meditative ECM label both conforms to the meditative, gorgeous standard and transcends it through a sense of constant motion and surprise.
The definition of "jazz" has never been broader, and the music has never been brighter. Two PopMatters critics pick their favorites in four modern jazz categories.
