Steve Turre: In The Spur Of The Moment (Telarc)

Turre is a formidable trombonist and conch player whose ability to mesh gears in different jazz styles and contexts may have diffused his impact. With this, probably his most straight-ahead jazz album in a decade, he shows what people are missing. Blessed with impeccable technique, a tone you could warm your hands at and a command of the plunger mute that goes back to Ellington's Joe Nanton and Quentin Jackson, he fronts three rhythm sections - led by pianists Ray Charles, Stephen Scott and Chucho Valdes respectively - for excellent mainstream, modal and Latin excursions. The material is appropriate for each, the contexts well chosen, the support good, the programming intelligent and the results enjoyable.

Stanley Turrentine & The Three Sounds: The Complete Sessions (Blue Note)

It's hard to believe the effulgent, unabashedly swinging jazz on this double was made 40 years ago. Appositely backed by Gene Harris (piano), Andrew Simpkins (bass) and Bill Dowdy (drums), Turrentine, new to Blue Note and at an early peak, produced some of the most engaged playing of his recorded career. A much more sophisticated performer than later, pop-dominated releases suggest, he has a down-home feel and a huge, heavy-as-molasses tenor sound to give warmth and, at times, a gospel-hued majesty to what he does here. No surprise that one of these albums, Blue Hour, was a big seller for the label; it has a creative tension that belies its simplicity and slow tempos. The other, not issued until years later, is almost as delicious.