Music: Current count 20485 [20454] rated (+31), 646 [658] unrated (-12).

Nothing special to add about this week. Remarkably ordinary, at least as far as music is concerned: in addition to depleting some of the jazz backlog, finding lots of better-than-average albums, October's Recycled Goods draft stands at 33 albums, Rhapsody Streamnotes at 8, both slowly growing. Unpacking looked anemic until I added in today's haul (not in the stats above) -- now it's close to par, about 50 per month, or 600 per year, close to what I usually get, even though a couple publicists seem to think I've died.

Also wrote a bit on the Terminal Zone web plan. Would be interested in any comments, wish lists, and/or technical advice -- especially if you have any experience building Mediawiki sites. Thus far all I've been able to do is install it, after which it sits blankly, possibly realizing that I have no clue what to do next.

Josh Berman & His Gang: There Now (2011 [2012], Delmark): Cornet player, based in Chicago, third album, His Gang an octet, with five horns -- Berman, Jeb Bishop (trombone), Guilhermo Gregorio (clarinet), Jason Stein (bass clarinet), and Keefe Jackson (tenor sax) -- vibes (Jason Adasiewicz), bass (Joshua Abrams), and drums (Frank Rosaly). The horns (even the clarinets) have a lot of firepower, often glorious, sometimes fracturing or skidding, while the vibes do a nice job of following the crowd. B+(***)

George Cables: My Muse (2012, High Note): Pianist, b. 1944, worked his way through Art Blakey's boot camp, recorded frequently (and magnificently) with Art Pepper (1979-82), has 30-some albums since 1975, a mainstream stylist of exceptional touch and taste, which makes it all the harder to pick among his many trios, like this one with Essiet Essiet and Victor Lewis. I'm especially touched by his "My Old Flame." B+(***)

Ed Cherry: It's All Good (2012, Posi-Tone): Guitarist, b. 1954, played with Dizzy Gillespie 1978-92, also with Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus group; cut three albums 1993-2001, with this his fourth. Organ trio, with Pat Bianchi and Byron Landham. Tasty, but rather light. B+(*)

Anat Cohen: Claroscuro (2011 [2012], Anzic): Israeli reed player, based in New York, leads with her clarinet here but also plays tenor and soprano sax. Mostly quartet, with Jason Lindner on piano, Joe Martin on bass, and Daniel Freedman on drums. About half Brazilian tunes, with Paquito D'Rivera guesting on four. Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon joins in on two, and sings "La Vie en Rose." Closes with Abdullah Ibrahim's "The Wedding." B+(***)

Denise Donatelli: Soul Shadows (2012, Savant): Singer, fourth album, not sure I'd call these standards except for "All or Nothing at All," but she's fine when the songs and arrangements are up to it. Geoffrey Keezer plays musical director and piano. He likes extra percussion, just a touch of horns and strings, the latter icky. "Another Day" is the odd song out, or in. B

Joe Fiedler's Big Sackbut (2011 [2012], YSL): Trombone player, b. 1965, sixth album since 1998, including a tribute to Albert Mangelsdorff, and an A-listed album last year (Sacred Chrome Orb). This is a trombone quartet, or close -- Ryan Keberle and Josh Roseman also play trombone, but Marcus Rojas plays tuba. Not the first to try something like this (cf. Ray Anderson's Slide Ride), but the tuba gives this some extra bounce, and the bones take the hint. B+(***)

Gato Libre: Forever (2011 [2012], Libra): Fifth album for this group led by Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, who writes all the pieces, with Satoko Fujii playing accordion, Kazuhiko Tsumura guitar, and Norikatsu Koreyasu bass. Not much action out of the accordion this time -- when they recorded live in Europe Fujii seemed to tap right in to the folk-dance tradition -- so interesting as this is it never really takes off. B+(*)

Uli Geissendoerfer: Colors (2011 [2012], Black Coffee Music): Pianist, b. Munich, Germany; two previous albums. This "world jazz quintet" is mostly a vehicle for singer Pascale Elia, who is engaging enough -- I even find myself enjoying her take on "Norwegian Wood," normally one of those kiss-of-death jazz album songs. B

The Harris Group: Choices (2011 [2012], self-released): Lots of competing users for this name, but this looks to be a Chicago group led by guitarist Ric Harris, with bass, drums, and vibes, plus Chris Greene guesting on soprano sax (two cuts). As groove music -- or should we say soul jazz? -- bass/vibes offers a refreshing contrast to the usual Hammond, lighter and faster than the norm. B+(*)

Mark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters (2012, Capri): Big band arranger, b. 1957, started on trumpet, cut records for Sea Breeze in the 1980s, founded American Jazz Institute in 1997. This adds to his tribute projects (Jimmy Knepper, Clifford Brown, Porgy and Bess, Dewey Redman: five saxophonists -- Gary Smulyan, Pete Christlieb, Gene Cipriano, Gary Foster, and Don Shelton -- have a go at Ellington's sax legends, with no one quite reminiscent of Johnny Hodges or Ben Webster, not that that's a fair complaint. B+(**)

Donny McCaslin: Casting for Gravity (2012, Greenleaf Music): Tenor saxophonist, technically among his generation's greats, often known to explode and run away with other people's records, but his own records more often than not leave me cold -- exception, 2008's Recommended Tools, especially with the fancy postbop layering. The backing here is relatively straightforward, with Jason Lindner favoring electric keybs over piano, Tim Lefebvre on electric bass, and producer David Binney slipping in some further synth -- all of which mean the sax is constantly front and center. B+(***)

Hendrik Meurkens/Gabriel Espinosa: Celebrando (2012, Zoho): Meurkens was born in Germany, Dutch parents, gravitated to Brazilian music early (his 1989 album was called Samba Importado), initially playing vibes but switching to harmonica. Espinosa is from Mexico, has a similar fascination with Brazil (his first album was called From Yucatan to Rio), plays bass and sings (five songs), composed four songs here (as did Meurkens; piaist Misha Tsiganov contributed two more). Anat Cohen (clarinet, tenor sax) and Antonio Sanchez got their names on the front cover and pics on the back. It's a mess. C+

Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. VII: Sankei Hall, Osaka, Japan (1980 [2012], Widow's Taste, 2CD): I've probably lost my credibility here, given that this makes six straight Pepper authorized bootlegs I've given this same grade to -- they cheaped out on Vol. VI and only sent a sampler, so that's the hole in the list, but even with excess talk, thin sound, and a set list I've heard several times before, I can't go lower. For one thing, he's got George Cables on board -- the pianist he used on most of his studio recordings, but has been absent thus far on the boots. But also he's at a personal peak, which for him means more or less midway between jail and death. Simplest way to describe him is that he refracted up every modernist impulse from Parker to Coltrane to Coleman, but (excepting Johnny Hodges, of course) he also maintained the sweetest alto sax tone of all. A-

Bobby Sanabria Big Band: Multiverse (2011 [2012], Jazzheads): Drummer, b. 1957 in the Bronx, folks Puerto Rican; studied at Berklee, and perhaps more importantly with Mario Bauza, who gets a toast here. Started with small groups, moving up to a big band with 2007's Big Band Urban Folktales, and he pretty much owns that niche now. Picks up momentum, ending with a La Bruja rap that starts with history and plunges into the future. B+(***)

Elliott Sharp's Terraplane: Sky Road Songs (2012, Enja): Guitarist, b. 1951, has a huge discography including 17 solo albums, a bunch of string quartets and orchestral pieces, and now seven albums with Terraplane, his blues group. He dedicates this one to the late Hubert Sumlin, including a sample. Songs are new, some written by Joe Mardin, who appears on nearly every song with one odd credit or another. Eric Mingus and Tracie Morris sing, Alex Harding and Curtis Fowlkes blow, Dave Hofstra and Don McKenzie keep the beat straight. B+(*)

Wadada Leo Smith & Louis Moholo-Moholo: Ancestors (2011 [2012], TUM): Duets, trumpet and drums, not that either should need introduction, Smith coming out of the AACM, Moholo (not sure why he expanded his name) from South Africa's legendary Blue Notes. Cut in Finland, a little spare but both players continually rise to the occasion, providing a lot to focus on. A-

Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii: Muku (2011 [2012], Libra): Married couple, longtime collaborators, reduce their focus to trumpet and piano duets; should be intimate, but their styles clash and the instruments tend to separate out, a thrill when Fujii breaks out knocking chords every which way. B+(**)

Leon Foster Thomas: Brand New Mischief (2012, self-released): Plays steel pan, b. 1981, has a previous record. Group here includes Allen C. Paul on piano, plus bass and drums. The steel pan is similar enough in tone to the piano that this starts off like an upbeat piano trio before the pan tones emerge clearly. Nice trick. B+(*)

Ryan Truesdell: Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans (2012, ArtistShare): Of course, this is much more enticing as Gil Evans' unfinished work, on his 100th birthday no less, than it would be attributed to unknown arranger Truesdell, and I've seen reviews that go whole hog and file the record under Evans' name. It stands up nicely, if not all that consistently, on its own, the huge orchestra -- 32 instrumentalists plus three vocalists slotted with one song each -- is full of players who don't need to hide in a crowd. Aside from the solos, I found myself tracking the vibes (Joe Locke), a little sparkle on top of all the lushness. B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• John Daversa: Artful Joy (BFM Jazz)
• Roger Davidson Trio: We Remember Helen (Soundbrush)
• Eric Divito: Breaking the Ice (Pioneer Jazz Collection)
• Erik Jekabson: Anti-Mass (Jekab's Music)
• Steve Kuhn Trio: Life's Magic (Sunnyside): October 16
• Negroni's Trio: On the Way (AA)
• Sam Newsome: The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 (self-released)
• Ellen Robinson: Don't Wait Too Long (EMR Music): October 16
• Jason Robinson: Tiresian Symmetry (Cuneiform)
• David Virelles: Continuum (Pi)
• Torben Waldorff: Wah-Wah (ArtistShare)
• Andrea Wolper/Connie Crothers/Ken Filiano: Trance Formation: In Concert (New Artists)
• Zohar's Nigun: The Four Questions (Rectify)