DAVID BERKMAN (2008)

Pianist Berkman is a scintillating composer and improviser, but his solid tunes are lifted off the ground by exceptional players: saxists Chris Cheek, Steve Wilson, and Sam Newsome, and drummer Brian Blade, who gives each track a thrilling rhythmic surge. Berkman also gets song-title-of-the-year credit for his ''I Got Rhythm'' adaptation: ''Interesting, Perhaps, but Hardly Fascinating Rhythm.''