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Unpredictability is the key ingredient of the annual New York showcase, which often emphasizes new bands or projects. Here's a preview of five groups who will present unreleased music, featuring musicians like Lee Konitz, Brandee Younger and Jason Lindner.

January is a slow month for new albums. To tide curious listeners over, we offer an exclusive sampler of musical treats soon to come — ranging from opera star Jonas Kaufmann in Wagner to the unlikely pairing of a Bach pianist and a rising singer-songwriter.

You, a Pisces full of wisdom, have discovered a new song that lights up your soul. This week on 8 Tracks: Mild to wild obsessions with SZA, Bat for Lashes and Alice Coltrane.

Hear five tunes spanning the saxophonist's career, from '60s mysticism to modern spirituals.

Since the Harlem Renaissance, African-American musicians have portrayed black history as extended musical works. Jazz is full of such long-form compositions. Hear five examples from composers such as Oliver Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Duke Ellington.

The violinist, vocalist and composer says that writing a piece like her prize-winning Partita for 8 Voices begins with "having a sound in your head that you really want to hear."

New albums of music by the "Three Bs" prove that going back to the basics has its advantages. Hear a sweet-toned violin concerto, an audacious piano sonata and a solo cello suite caressed by a lute.

The great composer and bandleader was distraught over the 1967 death of Billy Strayhorn, his songwriting and arranging partner of 28 years. But Ellington took Strayhorn's passing as an impetus, born of necessity, to increase his own productivity. Here are five examples.

Clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg says his is an "instrument that at times responds better to the oblique glance than direct confrontation." He picks five players who have worked with the difficult horn, yielding unique and personal beauty in the process.

The blend of flute and vibraphone or marimba brings a transparent, sparkling quality — light and listenable, but permitting depth and mystery. On new albums, Nicole Mitchell and Anna Webber harness this energy, which has a surprisingly rich history