Tribal Groove Party at the Sun (Apricot)

Local four-piece Tribal Groove give up some laid-back-acid-jazzy-funky shit. Perfect lounge grooves for those who like music to add to, rather than overpower the atmosphere. Except for the bouncy "Get Up (Raise Your Hands)," all the songs on this five-set EP stay in mid-tempo mode. Lyrically, there's nothing too deep here: the boys just want to have fun, with a little bit of social banter thrown in for good measure. 7/10 (Gerard Dee)

Frédéric Galliano Espaces baroques (F Communications/Fusion III)

This is where acid jazz earns its stripes, reaching out beyond mere protofunk rehash. Four variations on a theme, a 20-minute anti-epic and a neat little closer is what you get. The ornate allusions of the title seem misaligned with the sparse, tenebrous cycles herein. Stark piano and ghostly flute, vibes and sax leave each other room enough to breathe the night air, even when the smart and efficient beats drop in to commandeer the wheel. Galliano's music speaks not of the surfaces of things but of the spaces between, and it speaks quite eloquently. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Frank Sinatra The Popular Sinatra--Vol. 1 (RCA/BMG)

Sinatra, one of the true originals of this century, was a jazz singer of the first order, inspired by Billie Holiday but swinging in a manner all his own. He recorded the 20 songs included here with the Tommy Dorsey band when he was in his mid-20s, and among them is a version of "Stardust" that brought the band's drummer, tough guy Buddy Rich, to tears. A splendid place to get acquainted with early Sinatra. 8.5/10 (Len Dobbin)