Wynton Marsalis: The Marciac Suite (Columbia)

Marsalis's command of his septet has been honed over more than a decade; in fact, the front line - Wycliffe Gordon (trombone) and Wessel Anderson and Victor Goines (reeds) - along with drummer Herlin Riley have been with the trumpeter that long. As this gem of an album confirms, it's a formidable outfit whose disparate personalities are moulded, in an Ellington-like process. into a multi-faceted unit with an undeniable identity. Marsalis, who composed and arranged the music, plays brilliantly; his colleagues, too, have developed as soloists with him. Even more impressive, however, is the warmth, imagination and assurance with which he contrasts and mixes the elements, musical and personal, at his disposal. Lovely.

Jarmo Savolainen/Eric Vloiemans: Grand Style (A-Records)

An excitingly uncompromising release from the Finnish pianist Savolainen, so impressive here last January, leading a superbly attuned working trio with Uffe Krokfors (bass) and Markku Ounaskari (drums); joining them is another marvellous European player, trumpeter Eric Vloiemans - the quartet which will play at Vicar Street tomorrow. Savolainen, whose roots are clearly in bop and post-bop jazz, has developed an approach where time and harmony are handled with considerable freedom, into which the gifted Vloiemans fits to the manner born. Collectively, the quartet is so mutually responsive that the concept of soloist is redefined, sublimated at times into group expression without being entirely abandoned to it. Overall, these are risky but, in the right hands, rewarding procedures - as this album emphatically proves.