Chris Ingalls

Vocalist and composer Sharada Shashidhar experiments with style and instrumentation, resulting in an exciting hybrid of spiritual jazz and alternative R&B.

Under the Mukqs moniker, Max Allison keeps topping himself. Juckport is another wild sonic ride from the forward-thinking Hausu Mountain label.

On Novella, composer Tyler Sabbag conjures a wonderful, sun-kissed orchestral jazz vibe that's just in time for summer.

What's so striking about Ruth Garbus and her latest record is how musically adventurous, wondrous and revelatory it is in its maturity and self-acceptance.

Alexander Noice creates layers of sound and interlocking melodies, blending jazz, improvisation, and tightly wound compositional lines, with modern technology.

For someone who spent so long playing on other people's records, Jacob Ungerleider is supremely confident and utterly charming, yet refreshingly relatable.

Olaf Rupp's Fuzzy Logic is yet another fascinating release in the Palilalia Records catalog, and his work here is impressive and deeply satisfying.

Alden Hellmuth is both blazing trails and paying tribute to the past, resulting in what may very well be the finest jazz album of the year so far.

Sequoia's So Long is the sound of a well-lived, occasionally heartbroken folk troubadour who has seen it all and will happily oblige you with a story in song.

Rob Smith's Salt Star is a brief, bright light of emotion and musical interplay, highlighting his unique, consistently engaging vision.