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Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse 'Cries From Tha Ghetto' (Pi Recordings)

If there's hope for the future of jazz as a continuously evolving art form, it lies in the spirit of young players like Chicago's workhorse trumpeter Corey Wilkes.

At the age of 29, the dreadlocked Wilkes has compiled a massive resume, nestling under the wing of Roscoe Mitchell and subsequently joining the venerated Art Ensemble of Chicago (whose trumpet chair had been vacant since the 1999 death of Lester Bowie) as well Kahil El-Zabar's long-running Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (with whom he performed twice in Pittsburgh). Last year, Wilkes appeared on an ECM CD with UK sax legend Evan Parker, but was just as likely to hang with post-rockers Tortoise (on "The Brave & The Bold") or with clubby nu-jazz artists such as Osunlade and DJ Logic.

He also has kept within neo-con circles by sharing stages with Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, but Wilkes' methods are clearly more open and abstract than theirs. Hence the name Abstrakt Pulse for his new sextet (which includes a tap dancer!) on "Cries From Tha Ghetto," only his second release as a leader after 2008's "Drop It" on Delmark. Where "Drop" was slicker and contemporary-sounding, "Cries" stretches out while respecting crucial boundaries, characterizing the music as the kind of woodshedding jazz creativity one might hear at Chicago venues such as the Hothouse or Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge.

High-energy, Blue Note-styled playing laced with occasional funk rhythms make "First Mind" and "Levitation" the most easily digestible tunes for jazz radio, while Wilkes' bright tone dominates the melancholic, late-night mood of the ballad "Rain." The CD's title track teeters somewhere in between -- its flow is still finger-snapping, but the bob-and-weave solos by Wilkes and tenor saxophonist Kevin Nabors (a Chicago star in his own right) venture out a bit further, plus Jumaane Taylor's tap dance solo is a hoot.

However, during the more unusual moments of the CD, "Cries" quite literally predominate. Four "Abstrakt" interludes indicate Wilkes' broad range of musical involvement, from fiery horn runs to electronic bleepage. On the Bowie-penned "Villa Tiamo" (from the Art Ensemble's "Coming Home Jamaica"), Wilkes and Nabors sound as if they're weeping and gnashing their teeth for some long-lost Mediterranean paramour.

And "Sick JJ"? Well, to use a modern street phrase, it's just sick.

Stodgy soul soldiers might resent the intrusion of six-plus minutes of textural caterwauling and chaotic squonking in the middle of an otherwise conceptually coherent disc. I just think it's brilliant, and shows yet another side of an extremely vibrant and complex player/composer who is one of the leading lights of a new progressive jazz generation. Let's hope we get to hear more of the cries of this particular ghetto cat, as he happily sits on the fence between various jazz camps and seems to have way more than nine lives.

-- Manny Theiner for the Post-Gazette

Asher Roth 'Asleep in the Bread Aisle' (Universal Records)

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Most people immediately compare Asher Roth to rap vet Eminem, but the 23-year-old newcomer proves he's more than just Marshall Mathers 2.0 on his debut CD.

On "Asleep In the Bread Aisle," Roth does sound like Eminem at times -- not lyrically, but vocally. But after giving the CD a full run, listeners will quickly drop the comparisons. He addresses the issue on "As I Em," rapping, "That's all I got, there's nothing else for me to say/If I don't confront the problem it will never go away."

What Roth does best is storytell: He delivers his thoughts on partying, politics and growing up in suburban Pennsylvania. Tracks like "His Dream," the funk-soul "Be By Myself" featuring Cee-Lo and the Lupe Fiasco-sounding "Sour Patch Kids" serve as proof.

He reminisces about discovering hip-hop on the enjoyable "Fallin'," spitting lyrics like: "And even though I couldn't relate/I kept listening and stuffing my face."

"Asleep In the Bread Aisle" is not perfect though. "Blunt Cruisin'" and the lead single, "I Love College," are plain boring. The song channels Roth's time at West Chester University, where he studied elementary education. Future teacher? Probably not. A future in rap? Probably so.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: On "Fallin'," the album's closing track, Roth rhymes about falling in love with hip-hop and you'll find yourself remembering when you first fell in love too.

-- Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press

Metric 'Fantasies' (MMI)

With "Fantasies," Metric is ready to start playing stadium shows. Not only does the band's latest album close with a song called "Stadium Love" -- complete with a sing-along chorus -- but it's the most commercial offering yet from the Canadian indie-rock quartet.

Solid from top to bottom, the album was 18 months in the making as it was recorded in spurts, allowing band members time to "reconnect with our humanity" (in the words of frontwoman Emily Haines) after three years of touring.

The result is an introspective look at life, love and fame delivered in 10 upbeat tracks that stick in your mind like a to-do list of all good things.

Haines muses on the pressures and pleasures of life on the opening song, "Help I'm Alive," a rocking track than begins with an industrial thump. She celebrates and laments the power of love on "Sick Muse," a pop-flavored tune with crunchy guitars and a bright chorus of "Everybody just wanna fall in love/Everybody just wanna play the lead."

"Gimme Sympathy" is another catchy pop song. On it, Haines asks that age-old question, "Who would you rather be/The Beatles or the Rolling Stones," while implying that the answer is irrelevant.

The band plays with electronic sounds, which provide a fitting backdrop for Haines' ethereal voice.

Metric sticks to its rocking roots on "Gold Guns Girls," a song about perpetual dissatisfaction regardless of the wealth, weapons or women available, and "Satellite Mind," another track about searching fruitlessly amid abundance.

Haines pays tribute to "burnout stars" and rock shows on "Front Row." But there's no burnout here. Bring on the rock show.

-- Sandy Cohen, Associated Press

Handel: harpsichord suites 'Jory Vinikour' (Delos)

In the dark ages of 78 rpm records, I had a brittle 10-inch disc on which the great harpsichordist Wanda Landowska played Mozart's "Turkish" Rondo on one side and Handel's "Harmonious Blacksmith" on the other. I didn't know then that each piece -- capriciously named by later generations and popular on its own -- was the final movement of a larger work. In the case of Handel, the Suite in question (in E Major, HWV 430) was in turn part of a larger collection of eight that the composer tossed off for fun in 1720.

These early keyboard works are a treasure trove, just about every movement a gem. "The Harmonious Blacksmith" is an air with several variations, exploiting not only that compositional technique but also the harpsichordist's virtuosity and its rhythmic clangy sound of the instrument. Chicago-born Jory Vinikour plays all this music with relish and a sense of fun.

-- Robert Croan, Post-Gazette senior editor