David Hazeltine's third Criss Cross release features him in the company of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Dwayne Burno, and drummer Joe Farnsworth. The pianist contributes three originals, two of which, "Naccara" and "A Touch of Green," share a similarly spacious, hard bop-oriented harmonic layout. The third, "Blues Quarters," is a 16-bar minor blues. Its form can be divided into quarters (hence the title), a fact that becomes especially interesting during the "trading fours" rounds with the drummer. On this tune and on Charlie Parker's "Cheryl," Alexander's and Hazeltine's mastery of the bop-blues idiom is astonishing. The lightning-quick closing track, "What Are You Doing?," also highlights Alexander's talent as a writer. Of the standards on the record, the bright Latin rendition of "Cry Me a River" is novel, but "Milestones" and "Spring Is Here" don't really rise above the ordinary. On the whole, however, this is a strong offering from one of the most consistent straight-ahead pianists on the jazz scene. ~ David R. Adler

This is an exciting new release from the wildly creative French clarinettist Louis Sclavis, a major figure in European jazz widely recognised as a masterful jazz composer and arranger. Sclavis's work often alludes to more than mere music, and on Lost on the Way, he takes his associative imagery from Homer. The track titles allude to the voyages of Ulysses. Sclavis: "I wanted to travel somewhere unknown, letting myself be blown from Scylla to Charybdis by mastering the winds and the torrents of return to re-evoke a history" - along the way looking at aspects of jazz, rock and modern composition from unfamiliar angles.

A three-disc box set from England's Avid Records, Little Jazz Giant tracks trumpeter Roy Eldridge's career from his early work as part of the Delta Four in 1935 through his own efforts to front a swing combo in the late '30s, his work with bandleaders Teddy Hill and Fletcher Henderson, his brilliant early-'40s sides with Gene Krupa, his profitable stay with Artie Shaw, his uncertain position with the modern bop community, and finally, four concluding tracks with Oscar Peterson. In retrospect, it's interesting how many of the most striking cuts here were actually written by Eldridge, including "That Thing," "The Gasser," "Fish Market," "Wild Driver," "Yard Dog," and "They Raided the Joint," each of which has a perceptible modernist edge. Pound for pound, Eldridge was one of the finest upper-range trumpet players jazz has ever produced, and this set has countless examples of his jet-propelled solos (check out his lightning-fast solos in the version of "St. Louis Blues" that is included here). Avid has released each of the discs from this set as single packages as well, entitled The Gasser (1935-1946), Wild Driver (1944-1950), and The Heat's On (1951-1952). ~ Steve Leggett