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"B.B." is the sound of musicians going about things in a deliberately different way, and discovering a kind of enchanted forest in the process. The song's pulse, when it finally arrives, is a cool breeze from a more delicate era — with hints of cresting jazz polyrhythm but, thankfully, no jazz pretensions.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews two new albums: Booker T. Jones's Potato Hole, and Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi.

Literally sparkling, Owens captivated the room with her masterful playing and exuberant charm.

Thelonious Monk proves the theory that great innovators often take a while to catch on. Monk's unusual sound repelled some listeners when he broke on the jazz scene in the 1940s. By 1964, he was on the cover of Time magazine and considered a legend. This 1959 album captures one of the few moments when Monk recorded with a large ensemble.

Dexter Gordon, considered by some to be the first great bebop stylist on tenor saxophone, recorded most of the songs on Settin' the Pace when he was in his mid-twenties. Gordon was already a pro by this time, having played with Lionel Hampton's band and Nat "King" Cole while still a teenager.

While working in Miles Davis' first classic quintet, Red Garland made several exemplary recordings as part of a trio. On A Garland of Red, Garland made his first appearance as a trio leader, revealing his own improvisational style.

"I was a lonely man, in a lonely bar, in a lonely city, in a lonely world, when she came in on the devil's arm," Favourite Sons' Ken Griffin sings during the opening verse of "Hang on Girl." The droning, driving song describes a man and woman who find each other and fight their way through the daily grind.

With a frenzied organ groove, the song repeatedly stops and starts on a dime, like a dance-crazy game of musical chairs. It's from an album of music for kids, but adults should appreciate it, too.

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton shares three songs from his latest CD, Into the Blue. The New Orleans native talks jazz and what it means to resonate. The new songs show a creative musician who knows himself, and bandmates who understand each other.

"Fair Weather Friend," featured on the band's rootsy new album Feed My Soul, revolves around a grim sequence of events: "The doctor he said cancer, I stopped in my tracks / I did not have the answer, but I knew you'd have my back." Only the supposed friend deserted Holmes in his time of need.