On Imaginary Hero, the new album from saxophonist, flutist, and composer Evan Francis, delivers wildly dynamic music drawing from a compelling array of stylistic flavors. His cool and steadfast band, The Evan Francis Group navigates his slyly shifting compositions with poise, while virtuoso soloists burst with thrilling alacrity. Imbued with thick funk, tasty beats, gritty soul, and firm roots in jazz and Afro-Cuban music, Imaginary Hero moves the dialog ahead with assured vision.

Bassist Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr.'s debut as a leader Mimosas is a rich and colorful album that highlights an incredible band's enduring friendship, celebrates his hometown of Fresno, CA, and overflows with virtuosity and heart. Featuring a lineup including some of today's most creative musicians, including guitarist Storm Nilson (Red Oak Duo), pianist Adam Benjamin (Kneebody), saxophonist Matt Otto (Los Angeles Jazz Collective), and drummer Tomas Fujiwara (Mary Halvorson, John Zorn), Mimosas is full of remarkable soloing, fluid ensemble cohesion, and impeccably tasteful performances. But what stands out here is the genuine love shared between these musicians, palpably audible throughout.

Grey Sky, bassist and composer David Tranchina's debut album as a leader, is an impressionistic cycle of somnambulant movements that wander freely from a base in jazz to psychedelic ambience and beyond. An unmistakable sense of curiosity and exploration is prevalent throughout the seven pieces on the album and is shepherded by two wordless vocal performances by singer, Argenta Walther. 

Red Oak Duo is the sound of the modern American West: vast rural landscapes, one-stoplight towns, suburban sprawl crawling up foothills and valleys, freeways, strip malls, rugged coastlines, volcanic rock, alpine lakes, dry arroyos, and a diverse, multicultural population.
 

Road Songs, the debut recording from the Android Trio, is a collection of instrumental reflections of the hazy experience of an American band touring abroad. The set of eight original compositions was written and arranged by drummer, composer and percussionist, Andrew Niven, and covers a wide landscape of stylistic terrain including doom metal, third stream jazz and progressive rock.