Stephan Crump, Amalie Dahl & Wadada Leo Smith

After considering whether or not he was now an empty-nesters—his two boys were not at home—bassist Stephan Crump started investigating the nesting practice of birds and eventually that began to inform his composing. His new striking album, Passerine, is the result. Master trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith's inspiration for his new Constellations And Hemispheres was the movement of light. Four different ensembles appear with Wadada on another piece of musical poetry. Danish saxophonist and now Oslo resident Amalie Dahl has been turning up the heat with her band, Dafnie. An expanded group for a recent release of her performance at the Molde Festival included Swedish pianist, Lisa Ullen, and that led to Ullen joining Dafnie on the new Live At Kafé Haerverk. The inspiration for saxophonist Chad Fowler and pianist Eri Yamamoto was to just make music spontaneously and their new Polka Dots And Moonbeams is one of the finer duo albums you'll hear this year. Other new music comes via saxophonist Mitch Marcus' Quartet, Chicago's Heat On, Belgian saxophonist Tobias Volkaert, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, violinist Jason Kao Hwang and pianist Chick Corea, recorded solo in 1972 in Bremen Germany, and heard for the very first time.