The Delft Big Band, under the musical directorship of Ian Smith, was launched in August 2008 as an initiative by the Department of Social Development, and NGO Cape Outdoor Adventure Service and Training ( COAST ). The objective of the project was to take youngsters off the gang-infested streets of Delft, one of the most violent suburbs on the Cape Flats, and give them a focus in life, in addition to enabling them to contribute to their household income. The band, consisting of 17 musicians and two vocalists, has developed into one of the most exciting big bands in South Africa, with many of the founder members now earning incomes as music teachers and professional musicians, as well as progressing to studies at the UCT College of Music.

Members of the band have undertaken two tours of Sweden, a tour of France, and performances at the Liverpool Brouhaha Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and the London Jazz Festival.

The Delft Big Band also performed at the 2015 Cape Town International Jazz Festival, one of the most prestigious festivals of its kind globally.

The young saxophonist Tia Fuller has been making a name for herself on the New York jazz scene playing with the likes of T.S. Monk, Jon Faddis, Ralph Peterson, Jr., Nancy Wilson, Gerald Wilson, Don Byron, and Jesse Davis. In the world of pop music, she tours extensively with Beyonce and label-mate trumpeter Sean Jones has featured her on his three recordings for Mack Avenue, returning the compliment by guesting on four tracks on 'Healing Space'. Fuller is also a talented composer and the 10 original compositions that make up 'Healing Space' showcase her bold and sassy alto tone and serpentine-like improvisations but also her invigorating interaction with her all-female working band and guest musicians - trumpeter Sean Jones and tenor saxophonist Ron Blake.

This was her penultimate album, recorded when her body was telling her enough was enough. During the sessions with arranger Ray Ellis she was drinking vodka neat, as if it were tap water. Yet, for all her ravaged voice (the sweetness had long gone) she was still an incredible singer. The feeling and tension she manages to put into almost every track sets this album as one of her finest achievements. 'You've Changed' and 'I Get Along Without You Very Well' are high art performances from the singer who saw life from the bottom upwards. The CD reissue masterminded by Phil Shaap is absolutely indispensable.

Collecting two very different albums by the late Cuban trombonist Juan Pablo Torres, this twofer begins with a 1975 exploration of stylized romanticism recorded with the Cuban state orchestra. String-laden and sultry, it's greatly enhanced by the contribution of the pianist Pedro Coton, who lends focus to the after-hours feel. The final eight tracks are characterized by Torres's freewheeling experimentalism, whether fusing Cuban and Andalucian rhythms on "Malaguena" or combining "Para Vigo Me Voy," "Frenesi," and "El Bodeguero" in a feast of Afro-Cuban jazz.

Feels Like Home,is the anticipated follow-up to Norah Jones's Grammy-sweeping debut! The disc finds the sweet-voiced singer once again working with producer Arif Mardin. Also appearing on the album are Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, jazz drummer Brian Blade, Jesse Harris (who wrote Jones's hit "Don't Know Why"), and Dolly Parton. Jones recently paid homage to Parton on Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Partonby singing "The Grass Is Blue." Jones also appears on two tracks on the latest from Big Apple trip-hop outfit Wax Poetic, entitled Nublu Sessions. With five Grammys already on her shelf, Ms. Jones was also nominated for the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy for her duet with Willie Nelson on "Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)," which appeared on Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin'.

England's Beat Goes On Label does two-fers better than almost anyone else. They remaster the music, pop the CDs into durable, slim-line jewel cases, and offer authoritative liner notes as well as a tidy, if not overly attractive, paper slipcase. This double-disc includes the two middle period Return to Forever releases, Where Have I Known You Before, originally issued in 1974, and No Mystery, released in 1975, which was also the band's final album for Polydor -- they moved to Columbia for 1976's classic Romantic Warrior. The first of these two discs introduced the band's legendary -- though not original -- lineup: with Chick Corea on keyboards, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White, and new guitarist Al DiMeola, who replaced Bill Connors. The now corny sci-fi imagery was perfect for the mid-'70s, and the stellar blend of knotty compositions and intense solo improvisation made for one of RTF's most compelling albums. No Mystery, featuring the same personnel, generally got shorter shrift, but hindsight being 20/20, that's unwarranted. Time has proven it to be a very consistent -- though admittedly less groundbreaking -- offering; it's worthy of real reconsideration in the 21st century. These records were, along with Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy and Romantic Warrior, Billy Cobham's Spectrum, Tony Williams' Lifetime, the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire, the epitome of jazz-rock fusion; Miles Davis' music of the era was always something more mysterious, more speculative, and far funkier than this muscular -- and masculine -- blurred out blend of instrumental pyrotechnics. The BGO versions of these albums sound a whole level or two better than the domestic budget reissues. ~ Thom Jurek

Whether or not the Original Dixieland Jazz Band were the actual "creators of jazz" as the cover on this West End compilation asserts is up for serious debate, but one cannot deny the value of this budget-priced Essential Collection. Here are 49 tracks, arranged chronologically from 1917 through the early '30s. The band underwent changes during that time, but the music was the same. Also of note is how many tunes that are now standards in the New Orleans repertoire were written by members of this fine outfit: "Ostrich Walk," "Tiger Walk," "Sensation Rag," and many others. This double-disc set is essentially a non-remastered reissue of Avid's earlier collection of the same name that was released in 2001. ~ Thom Jurek

Herbie Hancock's lackluster string of electric albums around this period was enhanced by this one shining exception: an incorrigibly eclectic record that flits freely all over the spectrum. Using several different rhythm sections, Herbie Hancock is much more the imaginative hands-on player than at any time since the prime Headhunters period, overdubbing lots of parts from his ever-growing collection of keyboards. He has regained a good deal of his ability to ride in the groove. "Calypso" finds him playing synthesized steel drums and interacting with customary complexity and ebullience with V.S.O.P. mates Tony Williams and Ron Carter. Disco rears its head, but inventively this time on "Just Around the Corner," and in league with Jaco Pastorius' vibrating, interlacing bass, Hancock gets off some good, updated jazz-funk on "Spiraling Prism" and "4 AM." There is even a reunion of the original Headhunters on a rhythmically tangled remake of "Shiftless Shuffle"; drummer Harvey Mason sounds like a rhythm machine gone bonkers. Easily the outstanding track -- and one of Hancock's most haunting meditations -- is "Textures," where he plays all of the instruments himself. This would be the last outcropping of electronic delicacy from Hancock for some time, and it was mostly -- and unjustly -- overlooked when it came out. ~ Richard S. Ginell