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Illusions
Arthur Blythe
1980 [Columbia]

It is somewhat surprising that the somewhat conservative Columbia label gave alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe enough latitude to create the adventurous music found on Illusions. A difficult record to categorise musically, Blythe uses two quartets... one a leaning toward jazz traditions, and the other freewheeling through the stratosphere.

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Special Edition
Jack DeJohnette
1980 [ECM]

Drummer Jack DeJohnette's first Special Edition lineup was also the best. Featuring blazing alto Arthur Blythe and bad boy David Murray on tenor (and occasionally bass clarinet), the record floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. The pick of the tracks are the opening two DeJohnette originals, 'Side One' in old time LP lingo.

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Ming
David Murray Octet
1980 [Black Saint]

Highly praised by critics and selected by 'The Penguin Guide to Jazz' for its core collection, it is fair to say that Ming is the pinnacle of tenor David Murray's career as a frontman. Passionate and uncompromising, the record rollicks through five Murray originals, with the stellar octet featuring altoist Henry Threadgill in devastating form.

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Social Studies
Carla Bley
1981 [Watt]

Carla Bley was at the forefront of experimental big band music, notably with her 1971 collaboration with Paul Haines 'Escalator Over the Hill'. Her music is always eccentric, and sometimes frustratingly erratic. Social Studies is one of her more cohesive efforts, as it playfully stradles the openly irreverent to the sublimely abstract.

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The Big Gundown
John Zorn
1985 [Nonesuch]

A fun record that frequently reaches the jazz outer limits and beyond. Altoist Zorn got official approval to tackle nine movie themes by Italian Ennio Morricone. Subsequently, the resulting record sounds a little like a B-grade spaghetti western flick, although it is fair to say that Zorn's interpretations are frequently radically bizarre.

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No Pain for Cakes
The Lounge Lizards
1987 [Antilles/Island]

Although the critics didn't know what to make of it, No Pain for Cakes is actually a very important album for its role in bringing jazz to the alternative music scene. It is almost a dead giveaway when you see a title like 'My Clown's on Fire' that what's inside is likely to be a bit out of the ordinary. John Lurie composes most of the album's tracks.

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The Dark Tree
Horace Tapscott
1991 [Hat ART]

Sadly neglected pianist Horace Tapscott is captured live here on a date at Catalina's in Hollywood in 1989. Released in two volumes in 1991, it has since been re-issued on CD three times. The album has gained a legendary status with the top jazz critics, even earning a coveted 'crown' in the highly respected Penguin Guide to Jazz.

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Far from Over
Vijay Iyer
2017 [ECM]

Pianist Vijay Iyer produces his most inventive album to date. Occasional electronics by Graham Haynes provide an eerie feel in places. Allmusic's Matt Collar commented on the album's "sense of danger and risk-taking". In his review for The Guardian, John Fordham said, "As a contemporary jazz set, Far from Over has just about everything."

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Emanon
Wayne Shorter
2018 [Blue Note]

Veteran saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter leads his quartet through this sweeping three-disc set, disc one a studio set and the others live. The Guardian's John Fordham notes, "If newcomers discover Shorter via this luxurious multimedia package, then Emanon will have done its job... but the music here is all that it really takes."