Nkeiru Okoye's When the Caged Bird Sings is a 'musical celebration' whose compositional voice, though rooted in the African American church, also embraces minimalism and improvisational elements. Delivering a message of adversity turned to triumph, it celebrates the transformative ability of African American women, partly evoking the experiences of the author and activist Maya Angelou. The work functions as a communal ritual that, like oratorio, opera, and theatre, brings together vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra in an experience that both commemorates and celebrates hope and possibility.

There have been a number of famous jazz artists whose offspring have followed their father's footsteps into music. Think only of Ellis Marsalis and his sons, Dewey and Joshua Redman, Papa John and Joey DeFrancesco, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Walter and Nicholas Payton and Harry Connick Senior & Junior. But for every famous father in jazz there are an unknowable number of fathers who inspired and nurtured their progeny's talent from the sidelines and encouraged them to go into music and pursue their dreams. Such a man was McDonald Chestnut whose internationally renowned son, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, remembers his dad with this touching memorial, My Father's Hands. By carefully choosing a wide range of repertoire - including originals, standards and jazz classics - and with the great bassist Peter Washington and the legendary Lewis Nash on drums, Cyrus has crafted not just an intensely personal reminiscence but a truly beautiful jazz album in all respects. The material is strong, the sequencing uniquely satisfying and the performances display a unity of conception and execution that can only be called remarkable. Top it off with the exceptional recording quality and you have not only another fabulous jazz record, but a lasting and moving tribute to a father from his son.