Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify       

The third volume of a sequence of albums going back to 2013, “Life Goes On” features striking new music from pianist and composer Carla Bley, whose trio with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Steve Swallow has a long history, starting in 1994. Bley has composed for ensembles of every size but, over time, the trio has established itself as an ideal unit for expressing the essence of her work. “We’ve learned to breathe together when we play,” Carla explains. “I hear our voices in my mind’s ear as I compose for us. I especially relish the conversational flow the trio allows. We’re essentially a chamber music ensemble, and this allows me to write music for us free of bombast and exaggeration.”

     Vocalist Robin McKelle delves into the catalog of some of the most celebrated women of song, interpreting these masterworks through the lens of the jazz idiom on “Alterations.” McKelle lends her sultry vocal stylings to classics by a diverse list of female innovators including Dolly Parton, Sade, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Janis Joplin, Carol King, Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell. She is joined by a group of consummate musicians including pianist and arranger Shedrick Mitchell, bassist Richie Goods, drummer Charles Haynes and guitarist Nir Felder.

Also this week, jazz icons Kenny Barron and Dave Holland pick up where they left off five years ago after an acclaimed duo outing, this time with the inventive drummer Johnathan Blake adding his modern versatility to the mix on “Without Deception”;

the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra is joined by special guests Eric Reed, Gregory Tardy and Michael Dease on “The Road Less Traveled;”

and trumpeter John Sneider releases “The Scrapper,” his first album as a leader in 20 years.