First off, I just have to say that guitarist Ed Diehl is the real thing. The fact that he is known only to other musicians is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, he should have more of a profile and career, but what he does have is the enormous respect of his peers, which is something money (and a publicist) simply cannot buy.

A longtime fixture on the New York and Hudson Valley scenes, Diehl has always been somewhat under the radar, but his playing is like a beacon in the night. Wes Montgomery may be a mile-marker here, but Diehl sounds like himself, and the decades he's spent with his guitar show in sheer magnitude and weight of his attack.

From Ellington's "Love You Madly" and Rogers and Hart's "My Heart Stood Still" to his own compositions, like "Semisamba" and "Be Bu,"Diehl's masterful touch and sense of harmonic brilliance are staggering. Beyond his mind-boggling technique and lyrical way with melody, it's Diehl's pure, creamy tone that's to die for. This is the way a jazz guitar should sound. Well, Here It Is is the real thing indeed...actually, you could even say it's the real Diehl. www.lineagerecords.com.

Multiple, finely honed talents are on display when Teri Roiger, a jazz singer's jazz singer, steps on stage.  Roiger is also a composer, lyricist, and active performer who teaches at Bard College and SUNY New Paltz. Still Life features Roiger in partnership with very bright lights on the New York jazz scene: Pianist Frank Kimbrough is a pillar of the innovative Jazz Composers' Collective; John Menegon is the bassist for two jazz greats (Dewey Redman and David "Fathead" Newman); drummer Matt Wilson, named by the Village Voice as the Big Apple's most promising young jazz musician, has more than fulfilled his promise; and Gil Goldstein's creative accordion inserts appropriate Parisian nostalgia.

Still Life finds Roiger's mezzo-range, sensuous voice expressed via "stretched bop," mainstream jazz nicely peppered with newer ventures. The tracks feature Roiger's own songs, lyrics she's written for noted jazz compositions, and striking rarities by Billy Strayhorn and Herbie Nichols. A common thread is the tension between love and life's sweets and bitters. Most tracks proceed at a stately but very swinging tempo. "Twilight Delight"—a vocal duo with Menegon, Roiger's partner in both music and life—is a real-life valentine. When the tempo speeds up on "Dewey's Tune" and "Straight No Chaser," Roiger's sure-footed scat singing is a marvel. www.makirecords.com.

Musical diversity and the pioneering spirit of crossing seemingly impassable musical boundaries (e.g., heavy metal to ska, R&B to punk) are highly commendable and deservedly respected attributes for any musician. But somewhere along the span of total running time, you've got to create an identity. Something MGM, despite its claim as a ska/reggae/punk ensemble, doesn't readily enforce. Is this band R&B or a hip-hop outfit? Metallica champions or torch-carrying punk disciples? MGM—and Listen—is as interesting as it is baffling. Seasoned followers of local music will understand my next reference. Reminiscent of Perfect Thyroid, MGM's key gland man, Chris "Skunk" Hanson lends support on "Up and Down" and "Beyond", but without PT's signature flurry of moxie and merriment. Instead, the nine members of MGM lapse unpredictably into predictable hip-hop rhyme and standard reggae. And they slip an incongruous R&B ballad up against a punk blast. And provide two tracks of silence. Yup, silence. But then again, the punchy inventiveness of songs like "Listen (Intro)," "Sometimes," "Up and Down," "Goodbye Grey Skies," and "Thank You" totally saves the day.

Listen bursts with the MGM's effusive and contagious stage energy. So here's hoping they continue to define without diluting, bringing their charged diversity to a seamless, coherent whole. www.monkeygonemad.com.