NEW RELEASES

A pair of top-notch albums by two high-profile L.A. area musicians--trombone notable Bill Watrous, who regularly appears in Southern California nightspots, and guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who is a featured member of Branford Marsalis’ “Tonight Show” orchestra--highlight this slate of recent jazz recordings.

KEVIN EUBANKS

“Spirit Talk”

Blue Note

* * * 1/2

A luminous, buoyant, conversational quality informs this music, which is delivered handily by guitarist Eubanks and a stellar cast: bassist Dave Holland, drummers Marvin (Smitty) Smith and Mark Mondesir, trombonist (and the leader’s brother) Robin Eubanks and flutist Kent Jordan.

The tunes, which are sometimes just riffs to get into the solos, come alive. They are often centered around recurring basslines and engaging rhythms, which give the soloists a dandy platform from which to work. The music alternates between relaxed and charged, a bit like rafting on the Colorado River as it slowly, then furiously wends its way through the Grand Canyon.

Eubanks enjoys plotting simultaneous improvisations by two or three players. On “Landing,” Jordan and the Eubanks brothers improvise together, then Holland and the leader do the same. The sort-of back-beat “Earth Party” crackles with energy and concludes with a bashing Smith solo, delivered against bass and guitar lines. “Journey” finds Eubanks playing two guitars, via overdubs, but the intuitive interplay makes it seem as if he’s duetting with another musician.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).