Cedar Walton: "Composer"

Astor Place, TCD 4001(61 mins) Dial-a-track code: 1641

Fleurine:"Meant To Be!"

Bluemusic, BM 1001(63 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1751

The fact that trumpeter Don Sickler produced both these CDs is, in itself an indication of above-average results. But with the personnel involved, quality is virtually guaranteed. On the first, the brilliant pianist Cedar Walton leads a group of New York's finest younger musicians Roy Hargrove, Vincent Herring, Ralph Moore, Christian McBride and Victor Lewis through a programme of his own compositions. Recorded last January, it's a lovely example of the sheer variety and interest Walton's music can offer melodic, yet with space to let the works breathe, they (and Walton) clearly had a similar impact on the players, whose response, intense yet considered, shows how inspirational they found the situation and Walton is as good as ever.

Fleurine is a young Dutch singer in the so called vocalise tradition of Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross and others. But she's no imitator. Her distinctive approach is to set lyrics to original jazz themes, rather than jazz solos, and then improvise a new melodic line more or less based on those lyrics. And as a lyricist, singer and improviser, she's hugely promising. Proof of how promising is the heavyweight company she keeps on her first CD Tom Harrell, Renee Rosnes, Billy Drummond, Moore and McBride again, with some additional section work from producer Sickler (trumpet) and Bobby Porcelli, and an excellent young guitarist, Jesse Van Ruller. Recorded in October last year, it's full of distinction in solo and ensemble work, in the sheer intelligence and appositeness of the lyrics, and in the originality of the talent it highlights. And it swings like the proverbial clappers.

Chris Potter: "Moving In"

Concord CCD-4723 (70 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1861

Stan Getz: "Yours And Mine" Concord CCD-4740 (57 mins) Dial-a-track code: 1971

In its combination of freedom and form, saxophonist/clarinettist Chris Potter's latest for Concord is probably his most adventurous yet. Accompanied by Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier and Billy Hart, he takes the basic horn plus trio format and, with no place to hide, produces some of the most unfettered work he has recorded so far. Even at its relatively most liberated, it's also coherent, which suggests that his musical personality is growing stronger and more individual, while remaining firmly rooted in the jazz tradition. He's more than well served by the trio, especially Mehldau, for whom this kind of thoughtful search for new ground is pure grist to the mill. All the music, except one track, a wonderfully inquisitorial trip through A Kiss To Build A Dream On, was composed by Potter and recorded last February.

Some previously unreleased material by Stan Getz dates from a 1989 Glasgow Jazz Festival concert with Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond and Ben Riley. Only two years before he died, Getz was in superb form, bringing his burnished, pure sound and seemingly inexhaustible melodic imagination to bear on a mixture of standards and jazz originals. The rhythm section, with Barron especially prominent, was almost perfect for the demanding saxophonist, and only a somewhat cavernous sound quality mars the release.

Oscar Peterson: "The London House Sessions"

Verve, 31453 17662 (320 mins) Dial-a-track code: 2081

First, the good news. This five-CD live set from an 11-day gig in Chicago in 1961 catches the great PetersonBrown-Thigpen trio at a peak. Just to hear them strike their particular groove, unified but fiercely competitive, on such as Kadota's Blues Sometimes I'm Happy, or almost anywhere else in the set, is ample confirmation. And it adds 22 previously unreleased tracks to those originally put out on four LPs (Put On A Happy Face, The Trio, The Sound Of The Trio and Something Warm). The bad news is that the piano sounds out of tune, the bass line is distorted on some tracks notably on some previously issued material and the packaging is pretentiously arty, not user friendly, and completely inappropriate for the recommended handling of CDs.