Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.

 For his landmark 25^th album as a leader, iconic pianist, composer and bandleader Michel Camilo wanted to do something truly special. So the Dominican-born Grammy and Emmy Award winner reconvened his all-star big band for the first time in a quarter-century to explore the full scope and breadth of his remarkable career. “Essence” offers exactly that: the essence of Camilo’s artistry spanning the last 40 years. The music, arranged in collaboration with trumpeter and longtime collaborator Michael Philip Mossman, is drawn from key points along Camilo’s storied trajectory. Most of the material has only been heard in trio settings in the past, while much of it hasn’t been revisited in the studio since the original recordings.

     Saxophonist Walt Weiskopf started his career with the Buddy Rich band at the age of 21. In the years since, he has released twenty CDs featuring a stellar cast of the best contemporary jazz musicians including Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci, Renee Rosnes, Joe Locke, and Conrad Herwig to name a few. Walt is also touring again this year, for the fifteenth year, with Steely Dan. For his new release, “Worldwide,” the tenor giant presents his European Quartet, featuring the Danish rhythm section of pianist Carl Winther, bassist Andreas Lang, and drummer Anders Mogensen. It was recorded in Copenhagen at the conclusion of the group’s European and Scandinavian tour earlier this year.

Also this week, saxophonist Alexa Tarantino, who performs and tours regularly as a leader and sidewoman in a wide variety of ensembles and genres, makes her recording debut as a leader with “Winds of Change”;

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis, who play the Iowa City Jazz Festival on July 6, unveil “The Hope I Hold”;

 and the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet offers up “The Rhythm of Invention,” on which Wallace uses the expanded palette of an orchestra to highlight the strengths of his core conjunto.