Free Spirits/Conjunction (Jazz Action JA07)
Free Spirits combines the diverse musical talents of saxophonist Lewis Watson and bass player Neil Harland with sitar player Dharambi Singh and tabla player Bhupinder Singh Chaggar. All four are based in the North-East and Yorkshire and this sounds to me like a fruitful collaboration.

Dasuke Abe/On My Way Back Home (Nagel Hayer 2061)
This is the first recording by the young Japanese guitarist, who graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2002. Now based in New York, he has recorded this most impressive debut album. All the compositions are his own, a confident and varied mix. His band includes some of New York's finest young musicians with tenor player Walter Smith, Aaron Parks piano, Matt Brewer bass and Rodney Green drums plus vocalist Gretchen Parlato on a couple of tracks.