JOE FARNSWORTH

Time to Swing

Smoke Sessions

If you were to buy only one record this year to fulfill your need for in-the-pocket, swinging jazz with a nod is the one. While much modern jazz seems designed for academic fulfillment or intellectual provocation, is a punch to the gut, to the feel-good sector of your musical cerebellum, to your heart. Joined by an experienced trio of players firing at the top of their collective games—trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, pianist Kenny Barron, and bassist Peter Washington—Farnsworth turns the fourth album of his career into a state-of-the-art outing.