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On a wet, chilly October afternoon, the prodigiously talented young jazz pianist Eldar visited the KPLU performance studio in Seattle. He immediately warmed everyone up with his outgoing personality and stunning solo piano work.

With many hundreds of new recordings each year, jazz maintains a lot of biodiversity in its tiny ecosystem. Chances are, it's got something for everyone, but finding the right fit is like searching for an ant in the jungle; it's never an easy quest, but when it happens, you'll likely find an entire colony. Here are the 10 finest jazz records of 2009, as chosen by WBGO's Josh Jackson.

On Nellie McKay's fourth album, she's still surprising fans — this time with a Doris Day tribute, Normal As Blueberry Pie.

Featuring Anat Cohen on clarinet and saxophones, the Anzic Orchestra -- a jazz band with a cello section -- blows away the Kennedy Center crowd at the 2009 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. Competition winner Hailey Niswanger opens.

Who is that singer? She's having fun with the Michigan State University Jazz Orchestra under director Rodney Whitaker at the Detroit Jazz Festival. After she sings, Dee Dee Bridgewater introduces the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble and Bennie Maupin's Dolphyana, free and outdoors in downtown Detroit.

If there are ghosts in the music, Ran Blake finds them and stretches their abstract melodies into an unknown ether. The 74-year-old pianist crosses streams of music, film and life in what he calls "recompositions," which amount to long strands of improvisation from multiple, original compositions. In his only concert of 2009, a small audience witnessed his recompositions unfold.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews two new collections of tunes from the late Latin pioneers Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente. The two were rivals on the bandstand of the Palladium, the epicenter of the 1950s mambo craze.

A former child prodigy, Bonamassa began playing guitar at age 7, and soon caught the attention of B.B. King. At 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and would later support the likes of Buddy Guy and Gregg Allman. In the decades since, Bonamassa has gained a reputation as one of his generation's great blues players. Hear him in a session on World Cafe.

Pianist Aaron Diehl is a fresh graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, but he's most assuredly an up-and-coming force in jazz. Dubbed "The Real Diehl" by Wynton Marsalis, Diehl displays brilliant technique and a truly creative approach to music, whether he's interpreting Tatum, Ellington or Mozart. He joins Marian McPartland on "Afternoon in Paris" and "One Morning in May."

Nicole Mitchell's Renegades matches exploratory playing with deep grooves and a tight ensemble blend. The new group is Black Earth Strings, consisting of flute, three strings and percussionist Shirazette Tinnin.