Roy Andersson Sånger Från Andra Våningen (2000)

Known as a protégé of T-Bone Walker and former guitarist for Bobby Blue Bland, Roy Gaines continues to stake out his solo career with the combination spark of Texas blues and soul. New Frontier Lover features not only a tight rhythm section but a top-notch horn section, allowing Gaines to cover the blues and soul ground with equal ease.

Roy Haynes has had a long career, and the generically titled The Roy Haynes Trio featuring Danilo Perez and John Patitucci is a long CD, approaching 70 minutes, that attempts to recap that career in the form of new performances and, to a surprising extent, succeeds. The drummer had just turned 74 when this album was released, and had been recording since the 1940s. He took the opportunity of this collection with a new trio, which contained both studio and live recordings, to look back over that period by choosing tunes associated with many of the musicians he had worked with over the years. His tenure in Bud Powell's Modernists septet was recalled in the opening number, Powell's "Wail," which also served the purpose of establishing right off the bat that Haynes was still drumming with his usual power and aggressiveness…