This week's Jazz CDs reviewed

SONNY CRISS

This is Criss! Prestige***

Ill-starred Criss, one of the few altoists to find a personal voice in Bird's influence, is in blazing form on this mid-1960s date, the first of seven fine albums he made for Prestige in a three-year period. It was a pick-up session and it shows, even with a rhythm section of the calibre of Walter Davis-Paul Chambers-Alan Dawson. But Criss's gorgeous, warm, expressively malleable tone could imbue anything with blues-like profundity. He simply poured his passion into everything he played, turning Black Coffeeinto a perfect after-hours mood, delivering the message on Steve's Blues and making When Sunny Gets Blue memorable through sheer force of personality. Rudy Van Gelder's remastering of his original session tapes is remarkable, though the brief Sunrise, Sunsetretains the sonic interference previously present. www.concordmusicgroup.com

AMINA FIGAROVA

Above the Clouds Munich Records ***

Although September Suite, her 2005 response to 9/11, was acclaimed in the US, the Rotterdam-based, Azerbaijani pianist/composer Figarova is not widely known. More's the pity. Above the Cloudsmay well be less aspirational, but its happier character is marked by some beautifully crafted writing, superbly executed by a fine Dutch sextet/ nonet with excellent mainstream/ boppish soloists in herself, Bart Platteau (flutes) and Ernie Hammes or Nico Schepers (trumpet/flugelhorn). Figarova wrote and orchestrated all the material, which is distinguished by a beguiling gift for melody, a surprising range of colours from the sextet's blend of brass, flutes and tenor (the nonet adds expertly deployed trumpet, trombone and alto) and a sure hand in siting the soloists within each performance. No boundaries crossed, but still impressive. www.munichrecords. com