Something of a letdown this week, but not as big a drop as my usual post-column break. Probably listened to as much non-jazz as jazz, but certainly not a big edge. Record of the week (possibly year) is K'Naan: The Dusty Foot Philosopher -- Canadian hip-hop artist, originally from Somalia; been through more than I can imagine, coming out much better than I'd expect. Maybe there is hope for the world after all.

The Stephen Anderson Trio: Forget Not (2008, Summit): No recording date. AMG thinks this was released in 2004, but booklet refers to later events, and cover is copyright 2008. A lot of google noise on Anderson's name, but as best I can figure he studied at UNT, got a Ph.D., and teaches at UNC-Charlotte. Plays piano. This is his first album, although he plays on a couple of albums under bassist Lynn Seaton and one with drummer Joel Fountain. Wrote 7 of 8 songs here, the exception "For Sentimental Reasons." Jeff Eckels plays bass, Fountain drums. Solid stuff, thoughtful, logical, forceful -- he's not shy about power chords. Extensive liner notes, with lots of references to clasical composers. B+(**)

Chip Shelton & Peacetime: Imbued With Memories (2007 [2008], Summit): No birth date given, but if he was in high school and college (Howard, studying dentistry) in the 1960s, he must be close to 60 now. Recording career starts in the 1980s. Mostly plays flute, along with piccolo and a little sax. Band relies on guitar (Lou Volpe, sweet and tasty), keyboards, and extra percussion, with a persistent groove. In other words, this is smooth jazz, maybe with a little higher aims and less cash in prospect. Jann Parker guests on the obligatory radio vocal cut. C+

Jim Shearer & Charlie Wood: The Memphis Hang (2008, Summit): Shearer is based in New Mexico, where he teaches his instrument: tuba. I've seen references to a "tuba jazz" deal with Jim Self, but AMG doesn't credit him with any records other than this one. He cites Sam Pilafian ahead of Howard Johnson and Bob Stewart on his MySpace influences list, so figure he likes old timey jazz. Also dabbles in some classical, playing with the Roswell Symphony Orchestra. Wood is a Memphis guy, filed under blues by AMG. He plays organ and sings; has a group he calls New Memphis Underground. Strikes me as a possible Memphis answer to Dr. John. Harmonica player Billy Gibson gets a "special guest" credit on the front cover. Some surprises in the song set here, starting with a vocalized version of Monk's "Well, You Needn't"; a couple of Andy Razaf lyrics; Joni Mitchell's words to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"; some other oddities. Need to play it again. [B+(**)]

The David Leonhardt Trio: Explorations (2008, Big Bang): Pianist, from Louisville, spent time in New York, based now in Easton, PA. Claims 35 years experience; has 12 self-released records out since 1991, including Jazz for Kids and an Xmas album. This is a trio with Matthew Parrish on bass, Alvester Garnett on drums. Half originals, half covers: four rock songs from the late '60s (or maybe 1970), one each from Jerome Kern and Horace Silver. The rockers, especially "Sunshine of Your Love," come off like crufty old metal, loud and clunky. The originals don't offer a lot more. B

Eri Yamamoto Trio: Redwoods (2008, AUM Fidelity): Pianist, from Osaka, Japan, arrived in New York in 1995; cut three trio albums on Jane Street (presumably her own label) 2001-04, then fell in with bassist William Parker, recording his excellent album of piano trio music Luc's Lantern and joining his Raining on the Moon group for Corn Meal Dance. Meanwhile, she now has three more albums on AUM Fidelity, a 2006 trio called Cobalt Blue, and two records this year -- this new trio and a set of duets called Duologue. The trio here repeats from Cobalt Blue: bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuichi (also on her three Jane Street albums). All original pieces. It all seems very measured and sensible, nothing that really sweeps you away, but each cut with its own bit of interest. Choice cut: "Dear Friends." B+(**) [Sept. 9]

George Colligan: Runaway (2007 [2008], Sunnyside): Pianist, mainstream to postbop, although he's developed a sideline on Fender Rhodes that qualifies as semi-fusion. Is still under 40, but has nearly 20 albums since 1996: prodigious, very talented, has dazzling speed and dynamics ("Ghostland" is a good example here), a lot of range. Don't think he's every made a weak record, but this one wanders more than I'd like: four cuts on Fender Rhodes and/or synths, five cuts with guitarist Tom Guarna, two with Kerry Politzer vocals, one with Politzer taking over piano while Colligan plays trumpet. (He previously played drums on Politzer's piano trio album.) B+(*)

Aaron Parks: Invisible Cinema (2008, Blue Note): Pianist, from Seattle, reportedly 24, first album, although he has a number of side credits since 2003: Terence Blanchard, Christian Scott, Kendrick Scott, Ferenc Nemeth, Tim Collins, Nick Vayenas, Mike Moreno, 3 or 4 more I don't recognize. Obviously, some folks think he's a comer. After two plays I don't think much one way or the other. Most of the cuts are quartet with Moreno on guitar, Matt Penman on bass, and Eric Harland on drums, with the guitar wrapping it all together, the piano largely reduced to a rhythm role. (Some guitar-piano combos work the other way around, which is more usual on pianists' albums.) [B+(*)]

Jeff Barone: Open Up (2008, Jazzed Media): Guitarist, b. 1970 Syracuse, NY; studied at Ithaca College and Manhattan School of Music; based in NYC; second album. Most of the cuts here are in a group with Ron Oswanski on organ and Rudy Petschauer on drums, so much so that the record often falls into a slick groove bordering on smooth. There are horns, too, which ultimately prove superfluous, although Joe Magnarelli opens on trumpet like it's his own album. I like the exceptions better, including a solo piece called "Quiet Now." Ends with an alternate take of "Falling in Love With Love" which holds up better than the main take, possibly because it's set off from the flow, or maybe because it comes off less cluttered. B

Todd Herbert: The Tree of Life (2007 [2008], Metropolitan): Tenor saxophonist, Flash-only website and not much else, so I'm short on background. Mainstream player -- label website says he "takes John Coltrane as a point of departure" but he sounds more like Dexter Gordon to me. Leads a quartet with Anthony Wonsey (piano), Dwayne Burno (bass), Jason Brown (drums) -- Wonsey gets a lot of space and makes good use of it. First album was pretty good, and this one is better. B+(**)

Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With the Blues (2007 [2008], Blue Note): Recorded live under from two dates organized by Marsalis's Jazz at Lincoln Center empire. Neither man has any real claim to the blues, but it was only an organizing idea in the first place; in any case, the album reverted to Nelson's songbook, with two originals ("Night Life" and "Rainy Day Blues"), two Hoagy Carmichael standards Nelson has done before ("Stardust" and "Georgia on My Mind"), "Bright Lights Big City," "Caldonia," "Basin Street Blues," "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It," "Ain't Nobody's Business," and a Merle Travis joke called "That's All" -- not sure how many of those Nelson has recorded before, but the answer could be all ten. Marsalis provided the band, framing Nelson's silky voice with polished brass. A quickie, the sort of trivia that Nelson routinely tosses off as proof of his genius. B+(***)

Curlew: 1st Album/Live at CBGB (1980-81 [2008], DMG/ARC, 2CD): NYC group, founded in 1979 by saxophonist George Cartwright, with Tom Cora (cello, indingiti), Nicky Skopelitis (guitar), Bill Laswell (Fender bass), and Bill Bacon (drums), who gives way to Denardo Coleman for the CBGB disc. Cartwright plays alto, tenor, and soprano (listed in that order). The group has gone on to record 6-8 more albums, mostly on Cuneiform. AMG styles them as: experimental rock, experimental, avant-prog, avant-garde, modern creative, jazz-rock, avant-garde jazz. I don't hear anything particularly rock-ish, but haven't heard their later albums. The more obvious reference is Ornette, who had started working with electric guitar a bit earlier, but when my wife walked in on this, she speculated that it was Anthony Braxton -- her general-purpose definition for ugly sax, but not inappropriate here. Will look into this further. [B+(***)]

Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble: Proverbs for Sam (2001 [2008], Boxholder): Another live recording from the Vision Festival, belatedly recycled for the rest of us. Sam is alto saxophonist Sam Furnace, present here, but deceased in 2003. The Proverbs are from the Yoruba of Nigeria. Cole was born 1937 in Pittsburgh, where he got BA and MA degrees; got his Ph.D. at Wesleyan, writing his dissertation on John Coltrane, and taught from 1974 until retiring in the 1990s at Dartmouth. He's written books on Coltrane and Miles Davis. His first album under his own name appeared in 2000; AMG lists 3 prior side credits: Jayne Cortez, Blaise Siwula, and Ken Colyer. Cole plays exotic wind instruments, mostly squeaky double reeds from Asia -- Chinese sona, Indian shenai and nagaswarm, Ghanaian flute, didgeridoo. He has a half-dozen albums, either duos or Untempered Ensemble. The latter, as well as many of the duos, include William Parker, who most likely developed his own taste in exotics from Cole. Also present here: Furnace (alto sax, flute), Joseph Daley (baritone horn, tuba, trombone), Cooper-Moore (diddly bow, rim drums, flute), Warren Smith (percussion), Atticus Cole (more percussion). A-

Mauger: The Beautiful Enabler (2006 [2008], Clean Feed): I have no idea where the group name comes from. The group is an alto sax trio, led by Rudresh Mahanthappa, with Mark Dresser on bass and Gerry Hemingway on drums. The latter have played much together, not least in Anthony Braxton's 1980s quartet. All three write. And while the young saxophonist shows poise in navigating this tricky material, it's worth concentrating on the mastery in the rhythm section. B+(***)

Mark Dresser/Ed Harkins/Steven Schick: House of Mirrors (2006 [2008], Clean Feed): Bassist Dresser is by far the best known of the three, but Harkins, who plays various trumpets and mellophone, is co-author of the eight pieces. Harkins has a previous album on Vinny Golia's 9 Winds label, although may far understate his experience. Schick plays "multiple percussion." Trumpet always appears somewhat muddled here, never bright or brassy. One result is that the record has little sonic presence. Knowing Dresser, that's probably not the only one. B

California Guitar Trio: Echoes (2007 [2008], Inner Knot): Three guitarists, none from California except in their minds: Hideyo Moriya (Tokyo, Japan), Paul Richards (Salt Lake City, UT), Bert Lams (Brussels, Belgium). Started playing together in 1991 and have a dozen albums now. This is the first I've heard. All covers, with Pink Floyd providing the title cut, and someone named Ludwig Van Beethoven raided twice. Most of the songs sound tolerably New Agey, with little variation from "Bohemian Rhapsody" to "Tubular Bells." Two come with vocals, a mistake. C+

No final grades/notes this week on records put back for further listening the first time around.

For this cycle's collected Jazz Prospecting notes, look here.