Sound the Trumpets - Bob Stewart

It was only after Michael Jackson's death that Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava gradually became aware that he had for many years been ignoring, in his words, "one of the great protagonists of 20th century music and dance. A total artist. A perfectionist. A genius. I felt the need to delve more deeply into Michael's world. There was only one to do that: play his songs." Thus a new live disc -- "Rava on the Dance Floor" -- recorded in the Rome Auditorium with the Parco della Musica Jazz Lab. Rava's trumpet is at its most extroverted, vaulting above the spirited arrangements by Mauro Ottolini. Michael Jackson's protean pop songs have never been heard quite like this.

Master trumpeter Ron Miles injects his radiant, lyrical tone directly into the lifeblood of American music on his latest release, "Quiver." A compelling, inviting trio date with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade, the disc combines the singing melodicism of America folk music, the heightened communication of the most progressive jazz forms, and an entrancing, airy openness. "I conceived it so that there was a lot of space in the music," Miles comments, "which just makes it a perfect vehicle for Brian and Bill, who are so purposeful in the way they think through a phrase with all of the silences intact and create all of this motion and energy without any wasted gestures or by playing a whole bunch of notes."