1. Zhen, David Braid Sextet (DB). You'll listen to David Braid's Zhen and do a double-take: what do you mean there are only six musicians playing? The Toronto pianist is a masterful arranger. His sextet excels at raucous but sophisticated blues-drenched songs and more modern, moody, unfolding material alike. The soloing is stellar, as you would expect especially from tenor saxophonist Mike Murley and trumpeter John MacLeod. But the lesser-known Gene Smith is a heavy hitter, and Braid, the CD's relative young'un at 30 or so, dazzles with the breadth and spontaneity of his playing.