With hundreds of performances worldwide, a shelf full of music awards, and praise from jazz legends like Phil Woods, Lee Konitz and Dave Brubeck, 18-year-old Grace Kelly has firmly established herself as a star on the rise in the jazz world. Her new release “Grace” marks a new direction for the accomplished saxophonist into the genre of gospel jazz.

The journey to make a spiritually driven disc began with a performance at a convention of 2,000 ministers from all over the world in 2010. It turned out to be such a great and uplifting experience for Kelly that she contacted gospel pianist and luminary George Russell, Jr., to be her main collaborator on a new record.

While mostly duets between Kelly and Russell, it also features cameos from celebrated percussionist Jamey Haddad and classical guitarist Peter Clemente.

Over the years, Chick Corea has been a pioneer in two-piano performance, partnering with Herbie Hancock, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and others in acclaimed concerts and recordings. “Orvieto” is the first release by the exciting duo of Corea and Stefano Bollani, a live set drawn from New Year performances at the Umbria Jazz Winter Festival. Chick and Stefano have been giving such concerts, mostly in the context of Italian festivals, for more than two years now. Bollani points out he has been listening to Corea’s music since he was 11-years-old, taking what he could “from his style, his phrasing and his incredible rhythm.” Corea, from his side, has been monitoring Bollani’s playing for a few years, and has mentioned Stefano as a pianist who inspired him.

During a prolific career that spans more than four decades, tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin has toured with such jazz greats as Maynard Ferguson, Dave Brubeck, Stanley Clarke and Pat Martino. He’s recorded ten albums under his own name since 1980 and considers his tenth one — “Ballads…Searching for Peace” — to be his crowning achievement. The disc was inspired, in part, by Pedicin’s main musical hero, John Coltrane. “From the time Trane did that “Ballads” album, I’ve always wanted to do a ballads album when I felt ready to do it.”

The name Cinque will be unfamiliar, but its membership includes some genuine musical legends. Joey DeFrancesco is considered by many to be the greatest exponent of B3 organ playing in jazz, while Steve Gadd has long been the first call drummer for Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, David Sanborn and others. Bassist Peter Cardinali’s lengthy resume includes the likes of Oscar Peterson, the Brecker Brothers and Toots Thielmans. Cinque was Cardinali’s brainchild. Also the head of Alma Records, he explains “I really wanted to start a jazz-funk band, and only with the top players. It was just a matter of assembling this musical dream team and giving them free rein.” The bulk of the compositions on “Catch a Corner” were written collectively in the studio and recorded on the spot.

David Budway is one of the most versatile pianists on the New York music scene today and an award-winning composer. After a fifteen-year teaching career at Duquesne University in his hometown of Pittsburgh, he moved to New York to pursue his dream playing with some of the greats of jazz. Since then, he’s been the pianist for groups led by jazz luminaries such as Stanley Turrentine, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and Joe Pass. On his new CD — “A New Kiss” — Budway is joined by a top-notch rhythm section consisting of bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts. Special guests include saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Marcus Strickland and guitarist Ron Affif.

As a title, “So Nice” might imply a sleepy and quite possibly uninspired session calculated to avoid challenges. That notion is quickly dispelled by the sprightly and imaginative solo Houston Person takes on “Blues Everywhere” that kicks off this collection. Person, of course, is a master of understated elegance, a balladeer of the highest order. But he’s equally capable of playing tough, soulful tenor with virile vigor. True to form, Person shows both his sides and delivers a program that alternates between creamy-smooth ballads and bluesier offerings with significant bite. With the amazing Warren Vache on cornet and Mark Patterson on trombone, the little big band sound here is stellar.

Since his return to ECM Records in 2003, Enrico Rava, grand master of Italian jazz, has made a number of recordings exceptional by any standards, with groups both national and international. “Tribe” belongs to the former category. The trumpeter is playing at a peak of lyrical invention, and his newest quintet is his strongest yet. Voted Rising Star Trombonist in the Downbeat Critics Poll of a few years back, Gianluca Petrella has a front-line relationship with Rava which recalls Enrico’s affinity with Roswell Rudd back in the heyday of the New Thing. Rava has always encouraged younger musicians, and pianist Giovanni Guidi and bassist Gabriele Evangelista are young players of much promise. Drummer Fabrizio Sferra’s resume includes work with Chet Baker, Paul Bley and Kenny Wheeler.

Despite its time-honored traditions and universally familiar iconography, Christmas remains a holiday celebrated by each family and even each individual in their own personal style. Pianist/composer Geri Allen offers up her own interpretation with “A Child is Born” — a new collection of traditional and original Christmas music that is profound and exuberant, spiritual and intimate. She refers to the disc as “a joyous Christmas celebration and remembrance of a childhood where love was always unconditional.”

“Celebrating Christmas”, preeminent pianist Marcus Roberts’ majestic new disc brings an astounding level of artistry and insight to fifteen beloved holiday classics. Roberts is joined by Rodney Jordan on bass and his longtime drummer Jason Marsalis, together forming an exuberant trio that weaves familiar holiday melodies into the layered rhythms, tones and textures of traditional jazz, bebop and other touchstones of the genre.

From Grammy Award winner Harry Connick, Jr. comes a new instrumental holiday classic — “Music From the Happy Elf” — a companion disc to Connick’s first picture book for children and the fourth edition of the ongoing “Connick on Piano” series; renowned contemporary jazz guitarist Chris Standring and singer/songwriter Kathrin Shorr celebrate the season with ten witty, charming and easy grooving originals on “Send Me Some Snow”; and Doug Munro and La Pompe Attack offer up a Gypsy swing holiday with “A Very Gypsy Christmas.”

For over a half a century, Etta James has been a musical force and a major hit-maker, earning numerous accolades including six Grammy Awards, among them the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, a Best Jazz Vocal Performance and two Hall of Fame Awards. She has crossed all musical genres and styles and has been cited as a major influence by a wide range of singers from Janis Joplin to Irma Thomas. Her new CD — “The Dreamer” — not only marks her first album in five years but it also will be her final studio recording before she retires. As Etta remarks, “I wish to thank all my fans who have shown me love and support over all these years. I love you all.”

Over the course of four decades, composer and bandleader David Murray has created a body of work remarkable for its magnitude, importance, and breadth. He’s been a part of more than 150 albums, been honored with a Grammy Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and co-founded iconic bands such as the World Saxophone Quartet. His newest project — “David Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole en Espanol” — is based on two recordings, from 1958 and 1962, which found Cole singing melodies from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Argentina accompanied by ensembles of Cuban and Mexican musicians. To play his new arrangements, Murray assembled some of the best Cuban musicians to form his 10-piece ensemble. The result, jazz journalist Gary Giddens proclaims, “is one of Murray’s most purely pleasurable albums…a sensational tour de force and high spot in his massive discography.”

Long before he became a world renowned jazz virtuoso, guitarist Pat Martino was a sideman in small combos that prominently featured the Hammond B-3 organ. He’s never lost his affection for that particular group dynamic, nor his quiet flair for moving back and forth between the roles of supporting player and compelling soloist. On his new CD — “Undeniable” — recorded live at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. with an all-star band, Martino sounds perfectly content enhancing the rhythm section’s soulful thrust while, at the same time, his post-bop, minor mode improvising is sleek and precise, and his use of sliding octaves colorfully underscore his stylistic ties to guitar great Wes Montgomery. Eric Alexander shines on tenor sax with Jeff “Tain” Watts propelling the band with his usual drive and Tony Monaco keeping the B-3 pedals to the metal.

Speaking of the B-3, Joey DeFrancesco remains the most comprehensive of jazz organ talent with the full spectrum of orchestral sounds and registrations at his finger tips and unparalleled musical sensibilities. Year after year, Joey D brings new life to jazz organ, a genre he almost single-handedly re-defined and brought into the new millennium. He has won the Down Beat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls as the top jazz organist every year since 2003. DeFrancesco’s new release — “40” — finds him celebrating a milestone in his life and career as he turns 40-years-old. His original compositions and cover tunes here run the gamut from jaw-dropping virtuosity to funky R&B and tender ballads.

“The sound of the West Coast Jazz that enjoyed great popularity in the 1950s…has been kept alive by several groups through the years. One of the preferred formats was the mid-sized group or small big band that was typified by Shorty Rogers and his Giants, the Marty Paich Dek-tette and the Dave Pell Octet. One keeper of the flame for this style of jazz is the Phil Norman Tentet. Their sixth album — “Encore” — is chock full of terrific music performed by some of the elite of the Los Angeles jazz scene (Carl Saunders, Scott Whitfield, Larry Koonse, Christian Jacob). The songs are first rate, the arrangements are sublime, and the blowing will knock your socks off.” – Jersey Jazz-

At the ripe old age of 30, Israeli native Yotam is being quickly recognized as a leading new voice of jazz guitar. Since being selected as a semi-finalist in the 2005 Thelonius Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, he’s performed with jazz greats Benny Golson, James Moody, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath and Frank Wess, to name just a few. On his new CD — “Brasil” — Yotam is joined by three of Brazil’s brightest stars, legendary guitarist Toninho Horta, pianist David Feldman, and percussionist Vanderlei Pereira, interpreting some of that country’s greatest composers, including Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo, and Chico Buarque. Yotam is also joined by special guests Roy Hargrove, Paquito D’Rivera and Cladio Roditi.