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Julian Lage: The Layers review – otherworldly jazz guitar

The American guitarist’s sparse, largely acoustic companion piece to last year’s acclaimed View With a Room is another captivating creation

Yazmin Lacey: Voice Notes review – songs to love and savour

The Nottingham-based artist’s debut album delivers a seamless mix of jazz, soul and electronica

Masego: Masego review – behold a wizard at work

The multitalented Micah Davis returns with a signature blend of trap, house and jazz that is nothing short of magical

The Comet Is Coming review – a blast of jazz from another world

Hang on to your internal organs as saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and friends whip up the loudest free jazz frenzy you’ll hear all year

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily: Love in Exile review – a trio in striking harmony

The Pakistani American singer’s follow-up to breakthrough album Vulture Prince is a tender, softly triumphant reunion with her former collaborators

Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective review – searching grooves and scorching solos

The US trumpeter and composer is a confident and generous leader during this night with his E-Collective group and the jazz-classical Turtle Island String Quartet

Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles review – classy jazz homage

In a powerful live recording, the piano virtuoso brings out the boogie, blues and gospel in the Fab Four’s songs

Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet: Warm Up: The Complete Live at the Highwayman 1965 – review

This rare live recording captures all that was best about the old jazz pub circuit, with a great band on top form

Peter Brötzmann review – free-jazz saxophonist on fiercely good form

The veteran avant gardist has lost none of his intensity with two sets showcasing the full light and shade of his fearsome improvisational playing

Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris review – devoted heirs carry the torch

A live set celebrating the group’s 50th anniversary loops in a 20-piece orchestra, rousing poetry and new improvisers among the hardcore veterans

Houston Person: Reminiscing at Rudy’s review – a melody masterclass

The saxophonist and his top band eschew improvisation in favour of faithful renditions of classic tunes, from Cole Porter to Paul Anka

Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Super Deluxe Edition) review – a festive classic

No one expected these songs of off-key melancholy, imperfect singing and seasonal disappointment to succeed, but nearly 60 years on, the jazz pianist’s masterpiece endures

Esbjörn Svensson: HOME.S. review – buoyant, capricious, sweepingly melodic

This recently discovered piano meditation from the modest maestro behind the Esbjörn Svensson Trio will entrance fans and fascinate newcomers

Eiko Ishibashi review – tantalising reworking of Drive My Car soundtrack

The composer and multi-instrumentalist is joined by a single saxophonist, reinterpreting her mesmerising soundscapes as delicate duets

Emmet Cohen: Uptown in Orbit review – phenomenal technique anchored in the past

The dazzling pianist and his fine band prove themselves masters of several styles on this album of classics and originals

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