Kenny Burrell - Handcrafted (2000)

There may have been more inventive or energetic players through the years, but Kenny Burrell is simply the ultimate mood-piquing, after-hours jazz guitarist. On Handcrafted, an unheralded but gorgeous trio date for Muse, Burrell's calm, velvet tones could put a city cab driver at total ease. Four out of the five cuts are covers, but you won't mind any sense of familiarity as they are shaped to a warm, languid perfection in the hands of Burrell and sidemen Reggie Johnson (bass) and Sherman Ferguson (drums). Johnson actually steps forward out of the mellow with some emphatic (perhaps overly busy at times) lead work on "All Blues" and "I'm Glad There Is You", but it's Burrell's bittersweet introductions and unaccompanied moments - as in his original "So Little Time" - that shimmer and satisfy most. Perfect music to wrap yourself in after any extended intrusion of harsher realities.