By Brian McCreath

Just as the 2008 presidential election exposed and ultimately crossed gender, racial and generational barriers, many of the year's notable recordings explored and wrestled with different kinds of boundaries — some musical, some cultural, and some almost unimaginable if not for the power of music.

Album: Gunther Schuller: Journey into Jazz

Song: Concertino for Jazz Quartet & Orchestra

Artist: Gil Rose

Gunther Schuller breached a different kind of musical barrier in the late 1950's, bringing together the aesthetics of jazz and classical traditions. Third Stream music was the result, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project has teamed up with a jazz quartet that includes Schuller's sons (Edwin and George) for an electrifying new recording of three landmark pieces.