Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 
 Trumpeter, composer and author Jeremy Pelt has certainly never shied away from themed albums, so one might expect something cinematic from the enigmatically-titled “Soundtrack.” However, as Pelt himself explains, “I’ve certainly done plenty of conceptual albums, but in this case there’s nothing I’m on a soapbox about. It’s been a tough time for all of us, so let’s not worry about sending messages for a minute. Here we are playing some songs and having some fun.” Pelt’s sultry and communicative horn is surrounded by Chien Chien Lu’s hypnotic vibraphone, Victor Gould’s subtle splashes on keyboard, and the stellar rhythm section of bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Allan Mednard.

     Clarinetist Harry Skoler discovered Charles Mingus and his music early in life. This discovery would change his entire trajectory as a person and musician, which Skoler celebrates on his new recording, “Living in Sound: the Music of Charles Mingus.” The recording features arrangements by some of the brightest compositional minds in jazz: Darcy James Argue, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Fabian Almazan. With pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Johnathan Blake, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, and a string quartet, the disc captures the many moods of the iconoclastic Mingus.

Also this week, four generations of The Defade Family, a name synonymous with jazz in Pittsburgh, celebrate their legacy with “New Frontiers”;

 vibraphonist Behn Gillece, trombonist Ryan Keberle, saxophonist Patrick Cornelius, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston make up the latest edition of the band Out to Dinner for their new release, “Episodes of Grace”;

     and Los Angeles-based guitarist Mike Miller, best known for his work with Chick Corea, the Yellowjackets, and Quincy Jones, presents a program of his original compositions on “Trust.”