For more than 20 years, this quartet has been a musical melting pot, artfully blending American jazz, European classics, Indian and African music into an instantly recognizable, meditative sound experience.

Barbara Thompson has long been acknowledged as the first lady of the sax. Together with her band "Paraphernalia" and Jon Hiseman, she ranks among the world's top Jazz-rock ensembles.

Bireli Lagrene plays with Babik Reinhardt in a tribute to Django Reinhardt.

Egberto Gismonti is a totally exotic musical missionary from Brazil who seldom gives solo concerts. Here he gives an unforgettable performance on piano and 8-string guitar. On Guitar: 28' On piano: 26

The Japanese pianist Aki Takase is a veritable typhoon of power and clarity. Her playing shows what can happen when the European rules of melody, harmony and rhythm come face to face with a distinctly Asian way of thinking!

ESP 2 is the true legacy of the music of Miles Davis, kept alive by his former sidemen who are now bandleaders in their own right. Together they honor the heritage of the legendary trumpet master.

The form, rhythm and tone of Rabih Abou-Khalil's music usually follow the pattern of Arabian instrumental music, but for his amazingly cosmopolitan sound Abou-Khalil has created a synthesis of Arabian music with Western classical and jazz idioms.

The two musicians Terje Rypdal and Miroslav Vitous recently found a kindred spirit in the Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, who manages to play drums and percussion simultaneously on the drum set he designed himself.

"Roots Revisited" is what Maceo Parker, one-time saxist in James Brown's Band, calls his earthy soul and funk combo.

Junko Onishi is one of the most exciting new discoveries of 'Blue Note'. Her imaginative interpretations of music from Duke Ellington to Sonny Rollins, together with her own compositions, have shown her to be a virtuoso pianist and composer of…