It’s almost impossible to imagine when guitarist Nels Cline finds the time to rest his head. In between fulfilling his full-time duties as second guitarist in Wilco, intertwining strings with Thurston Moore and Mike Watt, and recording his own rendition of Coltrane’s enigmatic Interstellar Space (1967), he is somehow able to pencil in sessions with his trio The Nels Cline Singers. Their most recent outing on Cryptogramphone, titled Draw Breath (2007), will hardly surprise anyone who has been following his sundry explorations lately, but still, the man seems incapable of producing a dull record some twenty years into his recorded career. Here his cohorts are bassist Devin Hoff and percussionist Scott Amendola, and each ensures that Draw Breath has something to satisfy all: pastoral Appalachian folk (”The Angel of Angels”), high-octane guitar rock (”Confection”), delicate acoustic idylls (the two-part “Recognize”), and extended improvisational slabs of noise (”An Evening at Pops’”). It’s the last category that occasionally feels forced, but Cline is nothing if not a master of the element of surprise, like his sudden channeling of the late Sonny Sharrock on “Mixed Message” or a welcome appearance by Wilco drummer Glen Kotche on closer “Squirrel of God.” The cost of the album is entirely justified during its first seven minutes on opener “Caved-In Heart Blues,” a dreary lament that’s like witnessing an electrical storm move across a stone-gray prairie in slow motion. I’d love to see the guitarist continue in this sort of cinematic vein, yet his restless nature is what I enjoy most about him.

“Caved-In Heart Blues” – The Nels Cline Singers 6:52 (Draw Breath, Cryptogramophone 2007)

Young trumpeter Avishai Cohen – not to be confused with the bassist who shares his namesake – dropped his second solo release last month on Anzic titled After the Big Rain (2007), supposedly the final installment of some kind of trilogy that I’m not entirely familiar with. Cohen’s debut was pretty run-of-the-mill, suffering from the typical post-Berklee College of Music homogeneity, but here he’s found a unique synthesis of North African and Latin idioms that coalesce nicely with his sharp, linear playing. His nearest stylistic relative would probably be Thrill Jockey/Delmark mainstay Rob Mazurek (especially where effects are involved), but Cohen keeps an almost obsessive focus on tonal color, not dissimilar to the earlier work of Norwegian Nils Petter Molvaer. While Cohen has found an excellent foil in keyboardist Jason Lindner, it’s the contributions of West African guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke that generate the most excitement. The jittery, bristling funk “Parte Forte” is a standout, as is Lindner’s sublime 9/8 tone poem “Meditation on Two Chords.” Cohen’s adventurous approach rarely gets the best of him, and After the Big Rain offers risks and rewards in equal measure. As a whole, it’s absolutely lovely.

“Meditation on Two Chords” – Avishai Cohen 8:16 (After the Big Rain, Anzic 2007)

It’s great to see old-schoolers like Kenny Burrell still igniting sparks some fifty years into his career, nearly six decades after cutting his teeth with Dizzy Gillespie. The guitarist’s latest Blue Note offering is a live disc recorded on two separate summer evenings last year, and while pushing the boundaries of jazz was never a part of Burrell’s M.O., 75th Birthday Bash Live! (2007) nevertheless demonstrates that he remains one of the masters of elegance and restraint on his instrument. The arrangements by Gerald Wilson are tamed almost to the point of somnolence, but when Burrell really gets going, as on opener “Viva Tirado” and “A Night in Tunisia,” one becomes entranced under the same spell of magic that makes Midnight Blue (1963) and Guitar Forms (1965) such a pleasure to hear. Unsurprisingly, the two tracks featuring Burrell’s vocals – one a stale blues number and the other a tepid execution of Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train” – are hammy and can be skipped easily. Guests include legendary flautist Hubert Laws and organist Joey DeFrancesco.

“A Night in Tunisia” – Kenny Burrell 11:27 (75th Birthday Bash Live!, Blue Note 2007)

The R&B covers album has become somewhat of an expected interspersion in the discography of many a jazz musician, but the duo of drummer Carl Allen and bassist Rodney Whitaker manage to offer something refreshing on Get Ready (2007). Rounding out the quintet are Cyrus Chestnut on piano and organ, Steve Wilson on alto sax, and the always-engaging Rodney Jones on guitar, who tackles the material here with fervor. The vibe is cool and relaxed, supplemented with a healthy balance of well-worn classics like Smokey Robinson’s title track and Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” with a handful of original numbers by the pair. While at times the interplay is bogged down by complacency and an inescapable sleekness, the guys obviously had fun recording this and it translates well to the listener. I still have issues with Allen’s flimsy, paper-bag snare sound, and there are a few inexplicable fades at the heels of several tracks, but overall this is a solid disc with much replay value, especially during the early hours of the morning.

“Get Ready” – Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker 9:03 (Get Ready, Mack Avenue 2007)

Los Angeles pianist and composer David Witham is most famously known as the musical director for George Benson, but his solo outing Spinning the Circle (2007) contains such a wide range of styles that any notion of pigeonholing is rendered obsolete. Eerie abstractions like “Momentuum” (showcasing Witham on accordion) sit comfortably alongside the drum ‘n bass workout of “The Neon” and reflective mood pieces like “Who Knows” and “Light and Life.” He’s joined by an impressive roster of guests, most notably the aforementioned Nels Cline (whose subtle comping practically steals the show on the Mwandishi-inflected “Afrobeat”) and the pedal steel of Greg Leisz, who adds exquisite shades of color to “Con Quien” and the otherwise limp “N.O. Rising.” Co-produced by Witham and Jeff Gauthier, the sound of the recording is a tad lifeless, but it can be overlooked with the abundance of stimulating ideas here.

“The Neon” – David Witham 7:02 (Spinning the Circle, Cryptogramophone 2007)