For The Blue & Green Project, saxophonist and composer Jack Wilkins drew inspiration from the rich Appalachian Mountain culture and environment.  

Composer and pianist Michiel Braam has largely remained under the radar here, but he's a big-time figure in Europe, where he has led the notable Bik Bent Braam band and several other groups. His latest effort is the ensemble Hybrid 10tet, which makes its recording debut with On The Move, an album made up of songs inspired by the venues played by the band during a recent tour.

Pete Herzog's Steel Guitar, A Blues Opera, tells the story of one guitar as it passes through different hands over its lifetime. It's purchased, stolen, won in a card game, and handed down through generations. "I have often thought about vintage instruments I have played and wondered at their history and felt all those who had played had colored their sound," Herzog explains. That curiosity about whose hands have graced a guitar and where it has traveled sparked the idea for the new album.

On That's What We Were Born For, veteran British singer Paul Cox teams with young French guitarist Charlie Fabert.

For her Vanguard Records debut, Diane Schuur does something she's never done. She performs 10 country tunes. The Gathering, her first album in three years, is a bold move that pays off.