This weeks Jazz CDs reviewed

BENNY GOLSON
new time, new 'tet Concord ***

Golson's revival of the old Jazztet formula he shared with the late Art Farmer, using his tenor with Eddie Henderson (trumpet/flugelhorn), Steve Davis (trombone) and a Mike LeDonne-Buster Williams-Carl Allen rhythm section, is the epitome of well-crafted jazz. Revolutionary it's not. But Golson gets a glorious sound, huge and beautifully blended, from an ensemble that sounds like they're having a good time, thanks to a propulsive rhythm section and Golson's imaginative writing. Davis, too, stands out amid some consistently good soloists. And the well-judged programme, a mix of originals, three jazz standards ( Airegin, Epistrophyand Whisper Not) and canny raids on Chopin and Verdi, is just the sort that, heard in concert, is calculated to send the fans home feeling they've got their money's worth. These days there's nothing wrong with that. www.concordmusicgroup. com

RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA
Kinsmen Pi Recordings *****
For this East-West encounter, the great young US altoist Mahanthappa brought Rez Abassi (guitar), with bass and drums, to play with Kadri Gopalnath, an altoist steeped in south India's Carnatic music. Kadri, who can play the microtones the tradition requires with control and accuracy, brought in A Kanyakumari (violin) and Poovalur Sriji (mridangam). The results are astonishing. Played with precision and verve, the music combines freedom and unfettered invention with a persuasive sense of order. The material, all by Mahanthappa and Gopalnath (it even includes a blues fragment), proceeds from a juxtaposition of styles that, paradoxically, achieves a satisfying emotional and musical unity, towards a real blend, culminating in a brilliant, 15-minute piece aptly titled Convergence. The solo and ensemble work is gripping throughout. www.pirecordings.com

TOM HARRELL
Prana Dance Highnote ****
If his last HighNote CD, Light On, suggested that Harrell's quintet was on a roll, this confirms it. In Wayne Escoffery (tenor/soprano), Danny Grissett (piano/Fender Rhodes), Ugonna Okegwo (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums) he has one of his best bands ever. There's an arresting contrast between his poised trumpet and flugelhorn and Escoffery's blusteringly inventive drive, while the rhythm section is superbly effective. And the whole group has an uncommon, edgy presence. But it's undoubtedly shaped by Harrell, who wrote all the material, deftly creating spacious compositions out of the simplest of motifs and generating changes that bring out the best in his colleagues. He's probably now in the form of his life – lyrical, assured, exciting and delivering solo after solo of the highest quality. Tellingly, neither Escoffery nor Grissett fails to step up to the mark. www.jazzdepot.com