Okay, let’s tumble into Apryll Aileen's “Under My Tree,” shall we? It’s not your grandma’s sleigh-bell jingler, not by a long shot. Aileen, this classically-trained pianist, decides to cloak herself in a Christmas-themed R&B haze, like wrapping a finely-made watch in soft flannel. It’s the kind of thing that makes you tilt your head. https://open.spotify.com/track/6BBE2fTRte3f7HW7NZkTwm?si=JDkhIyolRLeIJS9r8m7PVA The song feels like staring at a snow globe, the tiny...

Tomasz Kowalczyk and Benita Rose have delivered something beautifully startling with their collaborative album, "Benita Rose Plays Tomasz Kowalczyk". It takes a staggering amount of vulnerability to hand the literal blueprint of your psyche to another human being. Yet, here we have Kowalczyk, a prolific Polish composer, trusting the world-renowned American concert pianist Rose to excavate his mind and translate his wordless, heavily emotional...