Even amid the pan-stylistic fashions of contemporary art music, this clarinetist/composer stands out as a rare talent. Who else could perform deliriously funked-up jazz with rapper Biz Markie, and then turn around to write a string quartet for the Ethel ensemble? Variously heard engaging with klezmer music and the catalog of Junior Walker, this artist remains hard to quantify. Which means our intro playlist can serve as a point of entry for one of the killer postmodern jazz catalogs.