The Clunky and the Weird with Hal Russell.

The trombonist, who died on Dec. 22, spoke to Terry Gross in 2002 about the first time he played the horn as a kid: "This phenomenon came out, and I said, 'Damn, that's me! '"

Shirey mixes dry vocals with multi-instrumentalist stylings on his new album. Critic Milo Miles says A Bottle of Whiskey and a Handful of Bees is an original and engaging work.

Pianist and composer Dave Burrell was an important part of the free jazz scene of the 1960s, recording with Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown, Archie Shepp and others. His new CD with his Full-Blown Trio, Expansion, marks Burrell's first recording for a U.S. label in almost 40 years.