Charles Lloyd Quartet’s tasteful, elegant Mirror kicks off with a lush, tender ballad “I Fall in Love Too Easily.” Charles Lloyd begins with a soulful solo on the saxophone with the subtle supportive of Reuben Rogers’s bass and Jason Moran’s piano. Moran’s solo is compact and filled with angularities. In the follow-up “Go Down Moses,” Eric Harland’s drums provide Mr. Lloyd a pulsating, energizing rhythm to lay down his spiritual sound. Whether covering the Beach Boys’ “Caroline, No.” or revisiting Thelonious Monk standards (“Monk’s Mood” and “Ruby, My Dear”) or playing his own originals ( “Desolation Sound”, “Mirror”, “Tagi” and “Being and Becoming”), Mr. Lloyd sounds rejuvenating with his young stars. Mirror shows the beauty of understatement as well as the power in restraint.

Nicki Minaj’s debut, Pink Friday, opens with the impressive “I’m The Best.” Then she proves to be a bitch of a rapper immediately on the second track, “Roman’s Revenge,” in which she rhymes like dungeon dragon matching Slim Shady flow by flow. On the third track,”Did It On ‘Em,” she continues to grind hard: “All these bitches is my sons / and I’ma go and get some bibs for ’em / a couple formulas, little pretty lids on ’em / If i had a dick, I would pull it out and piss on ’em.” Unfortunately, the album turns toward mainstream radio like the Rihanna-assisted “Fly” and heads straight to the club with the support of Auto-Tune and Will.i.am on “Check It Out.” With her rhyming skill and swag, she could have been the best female rapper in the game if she didn’t go pop.

With Never Stop, The Bad Plus, which made up of bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King, proves that the trio can write its own tunes just as well as reinterpreting others. “The Radio Tower Has a Beating Heart” opens the album with an invigorating jazz-classical improvisation that is filled with harmonic intensity and complexity. The title track, however, takes a different turn toward pop. The melody is catchy as hell even without a hook to rely on. Over Iverson’s and King’s the big, groovy beat, Anderson plays some infectious ostinatos reminiscing of Thelonious Monk. The slow pieces, “People Like You” and “Bill Hickman at Home,” find the trio digs deep into their compositions, creativities and souls. The brief “Super America” joyfully closes out the album, yet one would hope that the record would never stop.

Also worth watching: The Bad Plus at the Rosslyn Jazz Festival 2010.

In its new release, Rubber Soulive, the funkified trio, which made up of organist Neal Evans, drummer Alan Evans and guitarist Eric Krasno, gives the Beatles’ tunes a fresh soul-jazz makeover. All songs are short and instantly recognizable. The group strips down the sound and keeps the melody intact. On “Something,” Krasno literally sings the lyrics with his soulful guitar. While “Drive My Car” gets a funk-up groove, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” gets a rock, bluesy vibe. Rubber Soulive is a tasteful treatment of the Beatles’ classics.

To capture the true essence of flamenco, renowned bassist Dave Holland who accompanied Miles Davis in his electric period knows that he needs to get inside the music. In learning from and collaborating with guitarist Pepe Habichuela, the master of the flamenco, Holland accomplished his mission: bringing his own voice to the music but with a deeper understanding of the flamenco’s language. Hands is a result of Holland’s appreciation for the music and the mutual respect between Holland and Habichuela.

“Bailaor (Seguiriya Cabal),” the longest and most captivating piece on the album, showcases Holland’s profound rhythmic and melodic sensibility and Habichuela’s effortless, expressive techniques that one can tell the man lives and breathes the flamenco. The intensity and connectivity in the way the two men complement each other on “Camaron (Taranta)” sound as if two Gypsies were in the house. Aside from Holland’s tuneful Latin-jazz flavors (“The Whirling Dervish” and “Joyride”), which accompanied by the Carmona clan, the eight masterpieces written by Habichuela are pure traditional flamenco masterpieces.

In addition to turkey, liquor, coffee and dozens of Dunkin’ Donuts, my in-laws spent some Thanksgiving time watching Van Son 45 In Minnesota. Although Huyen Thoai was just another typical theme from Van Son production, I enjoyed a few performances.

Trieu Minh, in particular, was a nice discovery. She started off with a gray suite with just a black bra underneath. By the time she reached the break, the jack went off. Even though she took on a forgettable pop song, her powerful, slightly gruff voice and a killer body are unforgettable. In the close-out number, “Huyen Thoai Nguoi Con Gai,” she blew out both the doll-like Cat Tien and the Chinese-inflected Linda Chou. Her voice was more superior than her veteran partners.

Entertainingly speaking, I found Nguyen Huy, the Michael Jackson impersonator, to be fun to watch. Sure, his voice was still somewhat annoying, but his singing had been improved tremendously. Sure, he was copying MJ move for move, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Le Nhat Minh’s bluesy version of Trinh Cong Son’s “Mot Coi Di Ve” was not so bad, especially in comparison to his brother’s dance-pop “Honey, Honey.” While Ngoc Ha’s vocals was superb on Duy Khanh’s “Dem Bo Vo,” the whole Japanese arrangement and choreography just killed the Vietnamese folksy aesthetic.

The opening animation that led to Don Ho and Hoang Thuc Linh’s “Dua Em Tim Dong Hoa Vang” was striking. I suspect Don Ho was the man behind that creation. Once again, Don Ho had done a marvelous job of complement his female counterpart. As a whole, Huyen Thoai was much more relishable than Van Son previous releases.

Ngoc Quynh is a smart singer who makes wise choices. She not only knows her own voice, but she also knows how to choose songs and arrangements that complement her vocals. She has a sweet, sensual voice; therefore, she needs some lush, mellow orchestrations to back her up. On her new release, Cho Nguoi, she enlisted Duy Cuong (who is responsible for seven out of ten tracks) and Kim Tuan for the job and the result is a superb album for late-night relaxation.

Cho Nguoi begins with the title track by Lam Phuong. Duy Cuong’s sensational semi-classical orchestration sets off the mood allowing Ngoc Quynh to deliver the solitude and sadness of a homeless woman waiting for her lover in the middle of winter nights. Likewise, her version of “Mot Minh” (also by Lam Phuong) is soulful and intimate with the support of Kim Tuan’s gorgeous piano. The loneliness in her voice came through without being over-sentimental.

On Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Trong Noi Nho Muon Mang,” Ngoc Quynh sings like a wounded songbird, but she skillfully coveys pain without screaming on top of her lung like most inexperienced singers these days. Her duet with Tuan Ngoc on Le Uyen Phuong’s “Cho Lan Cuoi” is a wonderful collaboration. They complement each other’s phrasing while maneavering their way around the swaying bossa nova rhythm.

While the current Vietnamese pop market is saturated with covering old songs, Cho Nguoi takes on a tasteful approach. Although Ngoc Quynh doesn’t give these timeless tunes a new life, she has done a marvelous job of paying respect to the songwriters.

In his fifth release, The Chi-town Nigga With a Nas Flow, The Lebron of Rhyme, The Pornstar Lover, The Malcolm West who “had the whole nation standing at attention” takes listeners into his Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Yes, the eogistic monster Kanye West is back and proving that he is still one of the most innovative producers in the game. He pushes his art to a new level by fusing funk, rock, soul, r&b with a handful of hipnotizing rhythms. The interlude to “All of the Lights” features a light, gorgeous unison between the violin and piano while “Hell of a Life” samples heavy prog-rock riffs. His musical genius comes through on the second half of “Runaway,” in which Yeezy distorted his voice through a vocoder that sounds like an instrument made for alien. Although his beats often overshadow his ryhmes, Yeezy is stronger as a rapper. His flow is less breathy and his swag better than ever even next to swaggermen like Jay-Z and Pusha-T on the appealing “So Appalled.”

Musically speaking, Yeezy achieved his fantasy. As far as his rhyme, here’s the closest one: “I put the pussy in a sarcophagus / Now she’s claiming I bruise her esophagus / Head of the class and she just want a swallowship.” Dark and twisted, yes. Beautiful? It’s questionable.

Lil Wayne’s I Am Not a Human Being drops while he’s incarcerated on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon. True to the title, Weezy is not a human being. He’s a fucking rhyme animal with a special talent for making some of the most wack-ass punch lines sound both amusing and intriquing at once. In “What’s Wrong With Them,” he claims “Sanity kills so I live the crazy life.” He indeed lives a crazy life and not only isn’t shy away from telling it, but also telling it in the most compelling way. Even when he gets down and dirty in “Popular,” his rhymes come off hilarious: “I’ma tackle her, get in back of her / bust it open suck that pussy like the dracula.” Weezy obviously likes to fuck, not just women, but the world too. On “Bill Gate,” he boosts, “Weezy fucks the world, yup I fuck it till it ovulates / Get her to the crib get in that pussy and just dominate.” That’s Weezy and he proves that being behind bars could lock down his physicality, but not spirituality.

Looking for some good-old-time blues? Check out Eden Brent’s Ain’t Got No Troubles. Brent got some serious chops on the keyboard, particularly on “Let’s Boogie-Woogie,” but it’s her big, raspy pipe that makes her a sensational bluesmama. Her version of “My Man” is a reminiscent of Billy Holiday’s, but in a higher register and faster tempo. From the funky opening (“Someone to Love”) to the mellow closing (“Goodnight Moon”), the whole album is popping, yet the joint that gets me both bouncing and smiling is “In Love With Your Wallet,” in which she warns the old fool, “Oh daddy, oh daddy can’t you see? She’s in love with your wallet not your personality. / She wants a sugar daddy just to pay her bills / She’s barely middle aged and you are over the hill.”