Let me set the scene. The trumpeter and saxophonist, both playing furiously, are locked in a face-off, slowly moving down the middle aisle of a packed Christ Church. Two other saxophonists are cruising through side aisles, playing counterpoint. The music is bouncing off of flying buttresses in every direction and we are in jazz heaven.

Brass Jaw was able to roam the church because the Scottish quartet travels light. No microphones, no amplifiers, just an alto, a tenor, and a baritone sax, one trumpet, and a sound as big as the sky. These guys were simply incredible. They took the audience on a journey from straight-ahead to avant-garde and back, and we stuck with them every step of the way.

Sometimes it was about texture, the lush blend of the varied voices. Sometimes it was about rhythm, with percussive blasts creating complex beats. And sometimes it was the sheer technical and aesthetic brilliance of a solo that went places no one could imagine. Trumpeter Ryan Quigley (who leads his own sextet at Christ Church Monday) was astonishing in his ability to pierce the stratosphere with his high notes. None of it was just for show --- everything fit.

And the saxophonists --- did I mention that two of them were wearing kilts? --- were equally dexterous on their instruments. But it was the endless creativity that prevailed. They played traditional jazz tunes like "Señor Blues," reinvented pop songs like Sting's "Walking On The Moon," and ventured into avant-garde pieces like "Holding Pattern," an original based on a hellish airplane flight.

Torben Waldorff (of Sweden) didn't win the audience over as successfully at the Lutheran Church. Maybe the solos went on a bit too long, but it's too bad people didn't stick with it because the music got better and better. Waldorff is an excellent guitarist and his group included the superb saxophonist Seamus Blake. The pianist, Henry Hey, was so subtle when he accompanied the their solos that I was pleasantly surprised every time he took off on his own fanciful excursion.

But the best thing about Waldorff's set was his compositional skill. The tunes, from his "American Rock Beauty" album, were not just amorphous progressions to improvise on. They were all nicely put together with catchy heads and innovative chord changes. The best, "Shining Through," an absolutely euphoric song, came toward the end, after many in the audience had left.

I don't usually fall head over heels for singers, but Somi is unique. Her brand of ethereal African soul held the audience in thrall at Max at Eastman Place. With her just-right back-up band providing the occasional guitar or piano solo and consistently tasteful accompaniment, Somi cruised through song after song, displaying her vocal prowess.

Her aural vocabulary is simply larger and more eloquent than that of most singers. In addition to her beautiful tone and powerful range, she incorporates yelps, clicks, and other percussive sounds. And her songs are personal, many of them real stories reinterpreted in song. An especially strong one was based on her seeing a homeless man in Paris who, she was told, had once been an important scientist. She not only projected into his life, she tied it into hers.

Sunday night I'm looking forward to hearing the great bassist

Charnett Moffett and his trio at Harro East, straight-ahead British jazz by Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock at Christ Church, and some hot Cuban piano by Chuchito Valdes at Montage Grille.