'The Auction Project'

David Bixler and Arturo O'Farrill (Zoho)

Alto sax player David Bixler calls "The Auction Project" jazz "with Afro-Celtic sympathies." That is far from the case when the album opens with a mid-tempo "June 26th, 07," but by the next track, "The Chicken Went to Scotland," the band sounds like a Latin jazz band hijacked to an Irish session somewhere in County Cork. With Bixler's wife, Heather Martin Bixler, setting the tone with her fiddle, the other five members of the sextet provide a good jazz background to Celtic-flavored music. Arturo O'Farrill's piano helps the blend rhythmically and harmonically and Bixler acts as a devil's advocate, offering a jazz voice to his wife's ethnic fiddle. Numbers such as "Banish Misfortune" and "Heather's Waltz" are strongly Celtic in tone while "Heptagonesque" insists on its jazz routes.

— Bob Karlovits

'Michael Pagan: 12 Preludes & Fugues'

Colorado Saxophone Quartet (Tapestry)

The saxophone quartet is one of the most-overlooked small ensembles in music. "12 Preludes & Fugues" shows that clearly in its presentation of compositions that can be classically contrapuntal or sweetly swinging — sometimes all at once. Composed by Michael Pagan, the 24 pieces are done in the traditional form of prelude first and fugue second. Most often, the prelude is classically shaped while the fugue moves closer to jazz. On No. 3, however, the prelude is jazzier while the fugue is more straight-ahead. No. 6 offers a great bit of jazz writing in its bright fugue while Prelude No. 9 is a nice chorale that sounds almost like a folk song. The play of the quartet is excellent, too. Five players are credited on the album as four players rotate through three positions on the 24 pieces. Baritone sax player Clare Church is the only steady member, and she provides a wonderfully strong voice throughout. This is a great display of musicianship both from a compositional and performance point of view.

— Bob Karlovits

'I Am Not a Human Being'

Lil Wayne (Universal Motown/Young Money/Cash Money)

It's not clear how Lil Wayne managed to record an album of new songs while serving an eight-month prison sentence that began last March. But as the title suggests, Wayne is not of this world. And as the material suggests, Wayne might be the only rapper living there, such are the depth and breadth displayed here. Designed as a stopgap before "Tha Carter IV," his new one, "I Am Not a Human Being," is a well-executed summary of everything Wayne has done before: schoolyard bragging ("Gonorrhea"), money and power metaphors ("Bill Gates"), twisted love songs ("With You"), attempts at solitude ("I'm Single"). Even his ill-advised fascination with rap-rock finds the right home on the Rick Rubin-flavored title track. Jay-Z's confidence, Biggie's rhymes, 2Pac's pace — Wayne isn't a human being. He's the house that hip-hop built.

— The Philadelphia Inquirer

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