NEW RELEASES : In Brief

* * * Muhal Richard Abrams, “FamilyTalk,” Black Saint. After two superb big-band outings that masterfully blended abstract tone colors with the verve of the African American music tradition, this sextet session is a relaxed stroll in the woods. Four of the six pieces run between 14 and 17 minutes, so there’s plenty of open space in the arrangements for soloing mixed with Abrams’ trademark flair for unusual instrumental colors. “FamilyTalk” may lack the gripping density of Abrams’ big-band albums, but the leader’s on a big-time creative roll right now--the people who hand out those genius grants wouldn’t go wrong throwing one his way.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).