When Anthony Nelson was a kid in Newark, and singing in a Plainfield choir, he was taken to a jazz club in Orange to hear keyboard legend Jimmy McGriff. He never forgot that. So after studying clarinet, sax and flute at the prestigious Jazz Institute of New Jersey, and after being a sideman where he would listen and learn, he set on his solo path to perform and record. For his fifth album, this multi-instrumentalist-composer is in tribute to the classic organ trios of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

‘Lavette!’ has Bettye LaVette singing 11 Randall Bramblett songs with an intensity, a passion, a daring kind of in-your-face arrogance that only she can muster. For the most part, though, she sings ‘em straight. Enticing. Inviting. That’s what makes it so universal. Guests like Steve Winwood, Ray Parker, Jr., John Mayer and Jon Batiste show up to the party but this is Bettye’s show.

Soulful Femme is Stevee Wellons and Cheryl Rinovato. Their Attitude was recorded at Fat Rabbit Studios in Montclair and produced by blues great Albert Castiglia. Another blues great, Tommy Castro, contributes to their scintillating cover of James Brown’s “Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothing.”

When we reported last month upon the direction of Paterson product John Pizzarelli’s new ‘Stage & Screen’ project, we obviously knew it was comprised of classic songs from Hollywood and Broadway. What we didn’t know was the profound scope, the jam-happy aesthetic, and the absolute transformation of these songs into something new, vital and incredibly swoon-worthy.

Wow. That’s all one could say upon hearing ‘That You Not Dare To Forget’ by M.E.B. (formerly Miles Electric Band). This amazing amalgam of hiphop and jazz is a stunning reminder that Miles Davis [1926-1991] never looked back, always looked forward to the next musical adventure which would capture his soul.

Seven-string Guitar Hero Steve Bello—from Ramsey in Bergen County—hits home hard on Mood Swings. Dedicated to Neil Peart of Rush, the CD rocks like a bitch, is just the right amount of heavy, and features Bello’s searing, slashing electric leads and chugging rhythms juxtaposed against drummer/producer Mike Sabatini’s all-out bombast (he of metal band Attacker).

They’re calling it post-rock. It sounds like the soundtrack to a horror film where you just know the heroine is going to get her head chopped off but you don’t know when. The Royal Arctic Institute—with members from Hoboken and Weehawken—have no singer and that’s why they’re special. The follow-up to their 2021 From Catnip To Coma is a languid chill affair accentuated by the production of Yo La Tengo’s James McNew.

For his 29th album, recorded in Middletown, Little Falls and Paramus, vibraphonist/keyboardist/arranger/composer/producer Joe Locke, 63, leads his quartet—with pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Lorin Cohen and drummer Samvel Sarkisyan—through some acrobatic arrangements, challenging in their complexity.

Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs continues to be the place where great jazz is born…and Time Bandits, by trumpeter/composer John Bailey, is no exception. In this one legendary studio, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Thelonious Monk, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Memphis Slim and hundreds of other greats made their best recordings.

New Orleans is a state-of-mind. Every year around this time of year, Mardi Gras is an explosion of joyousness. You don’t have to travel down to Louisiana to feel it. Its spirit resides in Mercer County, in a little town called Ewing, where Joe Grillo leads The Gumbo Gumbas on a Cajun holiday all year round.

On Time Capsule, Bill Warfield’s fourth CD with the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra, he unloads 12 tracks with, as he says, a “fervent emphasis on the power of the horns. My interests are so varied,” he continues, “I love classical. I love commercial. With this band and these horns, I can do anything!” And that’s exactly what he does.

Little did Paul McCartney and John Lennon realize when they wrote these songs that they’d make a near-perfect jazz album. Beatle-Jazz! Recorded at Teaneck Sound Studio, the melodies herein, like a tattoo on the brain, come out in delicious, mysterious and surprising ways.