Music

Does being partially raised on power trios lead one to hope jazz comes in threes as well? Not sure, but when tallying threesomes below, don’t forget Uri Caine’s (which admittedly also hosts a gaggle of guests, but still). Caine’s got the timeliest titles, too (“Wolfowitz in Sheep’s Clothing,” “Strom’s Theremin”), trying their damnedest to convince skeptics like me that jazz in the ’05 isn’t scared to engage the real world, though Cole and Parker’s “Election Funeral Dance” comes close. Best supporting actors are Bunny Sigler (on the Caine) and Blood Ulmer (on the Carter); most unexpected cover is R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly,” also on the Carter. Rosey the nosey neighbor, sadly, makes no appearance.

AFX
Hangable Auto Bulb
(Warp ’90s glitchtronica reissue)
Stream “Children Talking”
Stream “Hangable Auto Bulb” (Windows Media)

BRIGHT
Bells Break Their Towers
(Strange Attractors oceanic post-rock drone album)
Stream “Receiver”
Stream “Bells Break Their Towers” (Windows Media)

URI CAINE
Bedrock Shelf-Life
(Winter & Winter retro-funked semi-electronic eclecto-jazz album)
Stream “Steakjacket”
Stream “Blakey” (Windows Media)

JAMES CARTER ORGAN TRIO
Out of Nowhere: Live at the Blue Note
(Halfnote improvisational jazz fusion album)
Stream “I Believe I Can Fly”
Stream “Highjack” (Windows Media)

BILL COLE & WILLIAM PARKER
Two Masters Live at the Prism
(Boxholder improvisational world-jazz album)

E.S.T. (ESBJORN SVENNSON TRIO)
Viaticum
(215 Swedish avant jazz-pop fusion)
Stream “Letter from the Leviathan ” (Windows Media)
Stream “Eight-Eight Days in My Veins” (Windows Media)

DEXTER GORDON
Daddy Plays the Horn
(Shout! Factory ’50s bebop reissue)
Stream “Daddy Plays the Horn”
Stream “Confirmation” (Windows Media)

STEVE KUHN
Trance
(ECM ’70s semi-Latinized chamber-jazz reissue)
Stream “Trance”
Stream “A Change of Face” (Windows Media)

STEVE KUHN TRIO
Quiereme Mucho
(Sunnyside Latin-jazz album)
Stream “Andalucia (The Breeze and I)”
Stream “Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Mucho)” (Windows Media)

THOMAS MAPFUMO
Spirits to Bite Our Ears: The Singles Collection 1977-1986
(DBK Works Zimbabwean Afropop reissue)
Stream “Tombi Wachina”
Stream “Haruna” (Windows Media)

NNCK (NO NECK BLUES BAND)
Qvaris
(5 Rue Christine Christine free-jazzed noise-rock album)
Stream “The Doon”
Stream “Qvaris Theme” (Windows Media)

KASPER VILLAUME TRIO
117 Ditmas Avenue
(Stunt Danish piano-trio jazz album
Stream “Please Enter-Tain” (Windows Media)
Stream “Caravan” (Windows Media)