1 Nduduzo Makhathini

In The Spirit Of Ntu (Blue Note/Universal)

2 Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity Elastic

Wave (ECM/Universal)

3 Michael Wollny Trio Ghosts (ACT/edel)

4 Karl Berger/Kirk Knuffke Heart Is

A Melody (Stunt Records/in-akustik)

5 Dave Gisler Trio With Jaimie Branch & David Murray See You Out There (Intakt/Harmonia Mundi)

6 Avram Fefer Quartet Juba Lee

(Clean Feed/cleanfeedrecords.bandcamp.com)

7 Initiative H Polar Star (Neuklang/in-acoustic)

8 Chet Doxas You Can't Take It With You

(Whirlwind/Indigo)

9 Tobias Wiklund Silver Needle

(Stunt/in-acoustic)

10 Horace Silver Quintet

Live New York Revisited (ezz-thetics/NRW)

Three releases, all featuring trumpeter-composer Jaimie Branch, and all given extra and unwelcome - piquancy by her sudden death in late August aged just 39; and all demonstrating not just Branch's extraordinary instrumental talents, but also her openness and fecundity, and her ability to judge the moment perfectly.

Of the three, the Anteloper release would have been the closest to her heart. Anteloper were (one presumes they can no longer exist as a functioning unit) a duo, featuring Branch and drummer Jason Nazry. On this, their debut album (but third release, following the Tour Beats and Kudu EPs), they teamed up with producer-guitar whizz Jeff Parker and Branch's old Fly Or Die bandmate Chad Taylor. This is a very different project from FoD, however - for all their angularity and unruliness, FoD were an acoustic jazz band; Anteloper were electric (quite literally), blending 1970s Miles with Autechre's electronica, Tortoise's post-rock, plus the woozy end of trip-hop, with disco thrown into the mix for good measure.Branch put it better than I ever could: "We're improvisers first and we're bringing 'moment music' into the other zones of hip-hop and electronic music, drum-machine music, sound-system culture..."

Now, especially, Pink Dolphins is a disconcerting experience, difficult to describe, as it constantly moves in unexpected directions (sometimes unexpectedly catchy, as on the single 'Earthlings'). One can't help thinking how much more this force of nature had to give. Judging from this compelling album, a whole lot more.

On See You Out There, she's a guest (Gisler has been a frequent collaborator since the Zurich Concert album of 2020), but her presence makes a **** of an impact: the lengthy opener '**** On The Run' is quite simply one of the best things she ever did, a frantic, straight-outta-the-traps workout that the rest of the album, while good, never quite measures up to.

Chicagoan wunderkind Eli Winter, meanwhile, is an astonishingly gifted guitarist who is confident and unselfish enough to allow his collaborators to shine. 'Dayenu', which features Branch on fugelhorn, may well be one of the very last things she ever recorded. But mourning for the loss of one great talent should not blind us to the rise of another - and on this evidence, Winter is certainly one to watch.