*Note: Every Tuesday, NPR provides a Piano Jazz show to radio stations, which can then broadcast it any time within the following two weeks. Air times vary widely across the country. Check our station list for air times in your area.

Israeli born pianist, composer, and arranger Anat Fort is classically trained but is also well studied in jazz improvisation. A prolific composer, her musical words come together in elegant and often intense original tunes. She performs several originals -- "Just Now" and "Something about Camels" -- before joining McPartland on "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise."

Pianist and educator Michael Kocour spent years on the Chicago jazz scene, leading his own trio and playing high profile gigs with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and the Chicago Symphony. Now he's arrived at Arizona State University, where he serves as the director of jazz studies. Kocour talks about the transition from gigging to teaching and joins McPartland on "Ask Me Now" and "I Should Care."

Italian pianist Stefano Bollani stretches the limits of imagination with improvisations that can range from quirky to transcendent. Virtuoso technique and a keen harmonic sense bolster Bollani's improvisations, which are influenced as much by Charlie Parker and Oscar Peterson as Prokofiev and Zappa. He performs an original, "Buzzilare," and the Scott Joplin classic, "Maple Leaf Rag."

Dena DeRose began her jazz career at the keyboard. When arthritis and carpel tunnel made playing impossible, DeRose discovered a talent for singing. After a full recovery, she's back at the piano, this time with an added asset - an amazing voice that critics and fans celebrate. DeRose performs her own tune, "Home," and McPartland joins in for "I Fall In Love Too Easily."

Pianist Kenny Werner is a musician for whom creativity is a credo and improvisation a way of life. Transforming brilliant technique into unbridled creativity is not only Werner's musical mission; it's the subject of his popular book, Effortless Mastery. He and McPartland get together on a pair of Bill Evans tunes - "Very Early" and "Waltz for Debbie."

Piano Jazz swings in the holiday season! McPartland and her guests from seasons past, present, and future share their favorite memories and unique musical performances of Christmas classics and original holiday tunes. Surprises abound and musical gifts are offered for your listening pleasure.

With his heady, bop-rooted explorations of improvised music, pianist and composer Andrew Hill pressed the boundaries of jazz and influenced a generation of players. Sadly, Hill passed away in 2007, but on this Piano Jazz from 2005, Hill demonstrated his mastery of melody, rhythm and technique on his own "Nickodemus," before joining McPartland for "A Nightingale Sang in Barkley Square."

Pianist Matt Savage is a 14-year-old piano genius - an exceptional feat for anyone, much less this young man who has been diagnosed with autism. A number of television shows and documentaries have featured Savage's savant-like qualities, but on Piano Jazz, he's given free reign to show off his enthusiasm for jazz and improvisation, playing his own tunes, "Wobble Waltz" and "Kid Sister."