The veteran Detroit-born multi-reedman Bennie Maupin has been criminally under-recorded as a leader with just five previous albums under his own name in the last 35 years. But Maupin, whose sinewy bass clarinet solos helped define Miles Davis' landmark fusion album, "Bitches Brew," and who spent most of the '70s riding shotgun with Herbie Hancock, appears to have found a champion in Cryptogramophone, a boutique label based in Los Angeles.

Altoist Donald Harrison gained his initial fame in the late '70s when he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, following that up by co-leading a notable quintet with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Although he never quite became a poll winner or a major influential force, Harrison has always been a solid improviser.

Beach Hoppers is a collaboration project of vocalist Jana Tarasenko, producers Roland Voss and Daniel Voss and Stéphane Klepper.

Schizophonic is the fifth album by music producer Geoff Wilkinson's jazz/rap fusion project Us3. It features a more upbeat approach than most of the tracks from previous albums by Us3, and - like on the previous 2004 album Questions - no samples but live recordings were used in its production.

Timofey Reznikov was born 25 years ago, from birth he has been exposed to the world of music thanks to his musician parents. His musical career started in Russia. In 1996 he took part in many musical projects with varying style of music from Funk, House, Rock etc During this period he held concerts and tried to find his own style of music by composing the songs himself.

Anoushka Shankar may boast celebrity relatives (she's Ravi Shankar's daughter and Norah Jones's half sister), but her sitar mastery is all her own. On previous recordings, she followed in her father's footsteps by performing relatively traditional, raga-based music.

Arve Henriksen (born 22 March 1968, Stranda) is a Norwegian trumpet player, renowned for his distinctive, flute-like sound on the trumpet, inspired by the sound of the Japanese shakuhachi flute. He also sings; his unique wordless vocalising was central to Chiaroscuro, where he often sings in a soprano's range. The control over his head voice is such that in "Opening Image" he could quite easily be mistaken for a woman.