You probably know John Sinclair’s name from his status as a legendary Detroit activist and MC5 manager. But he also worked with trumpeter Charles Moore to put on a wide variety of Detroit Artists Workshop shows that highlighted some of the best local jazz talent. This new compilation gives us a glimpse of the sweet sounds that went down over the years.

Estonian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Misha Panfilov continues to operate in his own diaphanous waters where waves of funk, jazz, and exotica crash upon mystic sands of psychedelic rock and kosmische music. Recorded in the archipelago of Madeira, his latest album, Atlântico, shifts tectonic plates of space and sound, leaving a decidedly more spiritual and serene landscape in its wake.

Compiling thirty tracks across just about as many years (1964 through 1996) from the various solo and collaborating outings of the duo (now in their sixty-first year as union), the set examines their evolving alchemy of samba, bossa nova, jazz-fusion, and outré-funk excursions.

Smack dab in the middle of John Fahey’s first decade shifting around the tectonic plates of traditional music came The New Possibility.

Recorded in 1969 but unreleased/unknown until now, Down Lucky’s Way is a little hard to describe — minimal modal folk jazz? Maybe! Guitarist Lucky Ranku called it “healing music,” and that might be the most right on. The gentle but propulsive groove, the free-floating melodies, the comradely interplay … it just makes you feel better. Highly highly highly recommended.

Jake Acosta’s Rehearsal Park is made up of two long pieces (27 and 17 minutes, respectively) that feel warm and accessible but somehow somewhat unclassifiable. RIYL Oren Ambarchi? Oscillating grooves, interlocking melodies, unexpected string and horn sections, free-flowing rivers of sound — it reveals hidden layers and buried textures the more you get into it.

… Spector, a Jew born on Christmas day, did what few were or are capable of doing. He made the largesse—both genuine and contrived—of Christmas even bigger.

‘Tis the season. George Winston’s 1982 collection of seasonal solo piano recordings. Via Windham Hill Records.