Jazz bassist/vocalist Kristin Korb has released What’s Your Story?, a retrospective album that answers the same question it presents. Korb revisits twelve songs of personal significance with the aid of drummer Jeff Hamilton and guitarist Bruce Forman, creating a stellar trio that build organic and thoughtful grooves.

Renaissance ensemble Capella de la Torre on the one side, tuba player and composer Michel Godard and pianist Markus Becker on the other, combine jazz with the alien distance of the renaissance instruments by letting the past and the present meet and collide. They give worlds of differing memories a new form and let the heterogeneous become something new and homogenous.

In her albums of sung poetry, Susanne Abbuehl grants words room to move. For her, "setting verse" implies more than the pinning of a poem's cadences to a fixed arrangement. On 'The Gift', as on her earlier recordings 'April' and 'Compass', she insinuates herself inside the texts, explores their inner rhythms and their melodies and meanings, and sets them free to gently float and sway.

Straight from New York’s Feinstein’s at the Regency, “Midnight Caravan” salutes the great women singing stars of the 1940s and ’50s–from Ella Fitzgerald to Judy Garland to Rosemary Clooney–as they reign over the swanky, sexy supper clubs of the era. From sultry ballads to hot Latin jazz arrangements of Broadway tunes, the show features classic standards like “My Romance,” “Shall We Dance” and “Caravan,” and conjures a nighttime, Mad Men world where the surroundings are posh, the drinks keep flowing, and nobody goes to bed before three.

LIVING is Jan Gunnar Hoff's first solo piano album. His personal blend of different styles and influences is presented in its purest form - simply music. Some of Hoff's pieces are meditative and expressive, while others have a strong rhythmic nerve, creating contrast and variation in the programme.

The James Bond movie franchise is celebrating 50 years of exciting entertainment and some of the most memorable aspects of the Bond movies are the unforgettable theme songs. Shirley Bassey, Carly Simon, Tina Turner, Madonna, Adele - the biggest names in music have graced these timeless compositions with their voices over the last half century.

On The Colonel & The Governor, the duo packs in 14 tracks of classy, smart, and lovely duets on guitar. The album is mostly reconstructions of jazz classics, peppered with some original compositions by Emmanuel and Taylor. Taken as a whole, it’s an incredibly strong yet vulnerable record, and is a true testament to what can be done with a minimum of instruments and heaps of skill. Emmanuel calls it ”honest and in-your-face playing,” and they definitely don’t shy away from baring all, as their guitars are the only thing you’ll hear for the duration of the hour-long album (save for some well-placed scat singing and a bit of banter between the musicians).

Operation Northwoods is a new band formed by four accomplished young musicians who have collaborated on innovative projects together for many years. Trumpeter Douglas Detrick and saxophonist Hashem Assadullahi first met while completing their graduate studies in Eugene, Oregon, and went on to collaborate on numerous projects, including Hashem's pub-rock band Safety Buffalo and Doug's award winning chamber-jazz crossover band, the Anywhen Ensemble.

For this new record, Stéphane Huchard travels from Paris to Big Apple and meet the best jazz musicians in New York. Pianist Jim Beard, saxophonist Chris Cheek, bassist Matt Penman and guitarist Nir Felder gathered at Brooklyn Recording Studio to play and record original compositions of drummer and leader Stéphane Huchard. With their subtle and elegant playing, the presence of the most Parisian of Argentinian percussionists Minino Garay and the artistic direction of wonderful French pianist Eric Legnini (who brought his sense of groove and melody), 'Panamerican' looks like a major album in Stéphane Huchard’s career.

Toss a dart at the world map and you are likely to hit a country of origin for a band member in saxophonist Uri Gurvich's ensemble. The Israeli-born son of Argentinian parents assembled an international cast for his first release The Storyteller (Tzadik, 2009). The same band of Bulgarian bassist Peter Slavov, Cuban drummer Francisco Mela, and Argentinian keyboardist Leo Genovese return for BabEl with the addition of Moroccan oud and percussion provided by Brahim Fribgane on three tracks.

For their second CD for Tzadik, this fabulous trio takes a step toward tradition with a heavy CD of music for the classic format of guitar, bass and drums. Recorded at Bill Laswell s Orange Studio by James Dellatacoma, the sound is as intense and powerful as the music. Les Rhinocéros II is a strong second release by this tight and razor sharp new band of musical renegades.

William Parker and Hamid Drake have worked together in myriad set-ups and have large discographies together and separately. The pair have been mainstays of the New York jazz scene for decades and have built an enviable reputation as far-sighted musical explorers. On this trio date recorded live at the Roulette club on February 26, 2010, they are joined by one of Europe's finest free jazz trombonists, Conny Bauer.

We had our first concert, playing all new compositions in July 2012, and the second one in October. We were supposed to have one more concert right before this recording, but I had to cancel it because I got the flu. Thankfully I recovered quickly and could have this recording. All pieces are new born and not worn out at all. This is the real new born sound that I myself cannot even predict how this project will be. -Satoko Fujii

Pioneers of the London acid jazz scene, The Brand New Heavies are a British music institution whose unique mix of jazz, funk and soul has lit up the UK music scene for well over two decades. And now they are back with their first full studio album in over six years, Forward, featuring original vocal collaborator N’Dea Davenport and introducing new vocalist Dawn Joseph. Forward will be released on the 6th May on HeavyTone Recordings.

At the age of 70, Gary Burton, jazz's most innovative and accomplished vibraphonist, forges ahead with a new recording which solidifies the reputation of his great new band, The New Gary Burton Quartet.