NEW RELEASES : In Brief

*** 1/2 Cedar Walton & David Williams, “Off Minor,” Red Records. The adroit pianist Walton crafts his solos in the manner of his chief influence, Bud Powell, mixing garlands of plain-pretty melody with snap-crackle swinging lines, all of which fall easily on the ear. With his regular bassist, Williams, but without his ever-tasteful drummer, Billy Higgins, Walton’s work can be heard with a fight as his piano lines soar to the foreground. The superlative program includes three Monk pieces and a gritty original, “Hagy.”

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).