Some excellent choices; I especially liked the Motian entries. He's always intriguing and I can't listen to him without thinking of his glory days with Bill Evans and Scott LeFaro. But one disc I would add is Tord Gustavsen's "Being There." Gustavsen, a Danish pianist, leads a classic trio (piano, bass, drums) whose impeccable timing and tact remind one of the Evans' trio mentioned above at its very best. The playing is spare and restrained, sinking deeply into the notes and allowing them to speak for themselves; up-tempo moments, when they come, never feel forced but seem natural and easy, rhythmic extensions of the earlier repose. The music makes room for the spaces between the notes, and this gives the performance a hushed, spectral quality that can only be described as haunting. A fine follow-up to "The Ground" and " Changing Places," Gustavsen's earlier ECM discs. Any one of these will make a perfect soundtrack for the unspooling film noir in your mind. Highly recommended!

Thanks for the great list, Fred -- I'm not a regular reader of jazz criticism or journalism, so it's nice to stumble upon engaging, intelligent writing about music like this. It's a shame there's not more discussion of this music in the broader popular-music media. (I'm a music journo, so I suppose I should stop kvetching and start writing.)

Thanks especially for the tip re: Erik Friedlander, of whom I'd never heard. Downloaded the album from eMusic today, and it's right up my alley; I particularly like the way he rides the line between lyricism and noise, depth (structure) and surface (scree).

Was also very pleased to see Paul Bley's disc mentioned. I got that a few months back and it's gone into regular, heavy rotation around my house. I often play it back to back with a wonderful disc by the Berlin duo Nsi. (Non Standard Institute), called "Plays Non Standards", for the Finnish electronic-music label Sähkö. Essentially, the disc captures a set of piano improvisations by Nsi. member Max Loderbauer, which are then run through extensive signal processing by his partner Tobias Freund. I've described it elsewhere as sounding something like Paul Bley arm wrestling with Scriabin at the bottom of one of Pauline Oliveros' deep-listening cisterns. Powerful, immersive stuff, even if the sense of atmosphere does occasionally eclipse the chops on display. It's certainly not traditional jazz, but for those with a predisposition for drone and reverb, it's lovely.

I'd also recommend Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner's "Ojos Negros," also on ECM. Probably my favorite of his recordings so far -- not traditional jazz, again, but a loving and lyrical (there's that word again) combination of tango, jazz, and chamber music, featuring bandeonon and cello. Gorgeous. Anyway, thanks again, and do keep the jazzcrit coming!