Wayne Escoffery
Uptown (Posi-Tone)
www.escofferymusic.com

This well-named disc from tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery pulses with urban energy and old-school soul, contrasting firmly modernistic jazz statements with swinging feel-good grooves. Escoffery’s solos are like towering monoliths, huge, dense and hard as stone, as his notes spill over in seemingly endless streams as the rest of his quartet offers thick, buoyant support. Organist Gary Versace sounds flat-out retro on several tracks, skipping with a happy nimbleness over solid foot-pedal basslines straight out of the 1960s, but also adds mystery to the exotic “Road from Eilat/Gulf of Aqaba” and the flinty “No Desert.” Avi Rothbard keeps things cool and groovy on guitar, gliding through Jason Brown’s lively drumming in “Cross Bronx” and the catchy, danceable “Nu Soul.” No new ground is broken here, but this disc will satisfy an itch for the classic, and Escoffery’s titanic sax sound is always welcome.

Von Freeman
Vonski Speaks (Nessa)

Recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin in 2002, this set finds Chicago sax icon Von Freeman in good humor and fine form, blazing through ten and a half minutes of cyclonic bebop in the title track before settling down for three even longer numbers taken at relaxed tempos. Freeman’s slippery, acrobatic approach and gruff yet creaky tone are on full display in the extended solo spaces: his exuberant loop-de-loops skid and slide with abandon over the cool groove of his quartet. He is perhaps most remarkable in “Summertime,” giving the tune’s first section an otherworldly sobbing quality before switching to a breezy walk. Bassist Jack Zara is also inspired, playing with laser precision on “Vonski Speaks” and deep emotion in “Darn That Dream.” Mike Allemana’s friendly guitar lifts the group with a clean, classic sound, and drummer Michael Raynor skitters, rolls, slumps and shuffles underneath for a touch of mystery.

Komeda Project
Requiem (WM)
www.komedaproject.com

This is the second release by Komeda Project, a group highlighting the work of renowned Polish jazz musician and film composer Krzysztof Komeda. For this session the band recruited two newcomers to the music — bassist Scott Colley and drummer Nasheet Waits — seeking an openness and creative spark that would lift the music above mere recitation or revival. That gamble pays off. Colley and Waits sound right at home, reshaping space around the core of pianist Andrzej Winnicki, trumpeter Russ Johnson and saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna. After the episodic, three-part “Night-time, Daytime Requiem,” the group blossoms in a series of enigmatic pieces: ballads, Spanish-tinged marches, micro-suites stuffed with conflicted emotions. Johnson and Medyna trade off buzzing solos as Winnicki plumbs the center of each tune with economical eloquence.

Donny McCaslin
Declaration (Sunnyside)
www.donnymccaslin.com

It seems like Donny McCaslin can do no wrong these days: with each new release as a leader, the tenor saxophonist reveals more of his complex musical personality while raising the bar with his impassioned, thrilling solos. Time and again on Declaration, the leader pours it on, soaring from introspective themes to high, spinning orbits. But Declaration also shows McCaslin’s growing mastery as a composer/arranger. Take “Fat Cat” for example — as it rises from moody beginnings to a surging, Latin-tinged drive over a tricky rhythmic base, this nine-minute tune stacks and contrasts a set of distinct compositional elements like a mosaic, full of surprising intersections. Throughout the disc, McCaslin’s quintet — supplemented by up to five additional brass at key moments, works like a well-oiled machine. Shout-outs to Edward Simon’s impressionistic piano, Ben Monder’s melancholy guitar wail and David Binney’s sparkling production work.

James Weidman
Three Worlds (Inner Circle)
www.jamesweidman.com

Pianist James Weidman makes a strong case for greater recognition with this set of original music for quintet, quartet and trio. He marks his territory boldly in the disc’s first half, subverting the friendly mainstream air with lopsided tune structures and a quirky harmonic approach. Weidman’s odd chord voicings on these pieces create a feeling of imprecision, as if he had been skewed a few degrees out of alignment. This sense is reinforced by Ray Anderson’s warbling, oblique trombone, while Marty Ehrlich’s clarinet and sax work has a stabilizing effect. As the disc progresses, eccentricity gives way to more familiar, but no less inventive, settings. Vibraphonist Jay Hoggard shimmers beautifully in two quartet tracks, directly engaging Weidman’s exuberant piano at the end of “Theme for You,” while the rhythm tandem of bassist Brad Jones and drummer Francisco Mela sounds terrific throughout the set, particularly in the excellent, lively “Razz 2.0”.