You Can't Steal a Gift
By Gene Lees Yale University Press, 2001, 252 pages, $27.95
reviewed by Susan Markle

Brian O’Hern and his iconoclastic orchestra return for another set of zany and good-humored music. O’Hern’s goal has never been to create timeless music but to give his listeners a good time.

The Phil Mosberg Quartet: Forest Through the Trees

The Phil Mosberg Quartet consists of some find young musicians who are bringing some freshness to the Chicago jazz landscape. On "Forest Through the Trees", the band goes through a well-balanced program of original compositions.

Bradley Young: Midnight Rhapsody

Pianist Bradley Young studied jazz piano with Jackie Byard, recorded with Chet Baker, played with many in the '80's jazz scene in Chicago and went on to become a commercial bandleader in demand by the black tie set in both Chicago and Los Angles. On this recording Young shows us that his piano chops are not only intact but have grown and he is also a fine composer.

Joanie Pallatto and King Fleming: The King and I

Joanie Pallatto loves to sing and collaborate with others. This project, enhanced by the legendary King Fleming and his trio, along with guests Von Freeman, Bobby Lewis and Rich Fudoli, is close to a Chicago Superbowl win! All of the prized elements of originality, swing, sound and pacing make this a beautiful album. It has the perfect title too.

Sergio Pires: Umbigo

Sergio Pires is the other Brasilian guitarist/vocalist troubadour that now calls Chicago home. This is an adventurous album of original music that incorporates the samba, bossa, baiao, a little reggae and many other MPB ("musica popular brasileira") drum grooves that are becoming more familiar to the jazz and world audiences.

Flippomusic: Ganesh

BlueBossa
by Bart Schneider
Viking Penguin, $24.95
244 pp.
Reviewed by Jim Linduff

A look into the soul of a man and the music he loves is the theme of this ambitious first novel by Bart Schneider, editor of the Hungry Mind Review, an independent book review magazine out of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Schneider is also the editor of Race: An Anthology in the First Person, a compilation of articles written by a group of contemporary writers and social leaders. In BlueBossa, he incorporates some of these racial issues.

Looking for Chet Baker:
An Evan Horne Mystery
by Bill Moody
Walker & Co., 253 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Don Rose

The New York Times Essential Library:
Jazz—a critic’s guide to the 100 most important recordings
By Ben Ratliff
Times Books/Holt, November 2002, 249 pages (paper), $16
Reviewed by Don Rose