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Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Get to know jazz, five songs at a time.

  • Get To Know Jazz...

Recent Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

David Baker helped make formal jazz education a growing part of the music's history and evolution.

January 19, 2012 Baker helped make formal jazz education a growing part of the music's history and evolution.

Max Roach in 1947.

January 10, 2012 The late jazz pioneer's mission was to make drumming a more musical, lyrical experience.

 Drummer Allison Miller performs at Winter Jazzfest this weekend.

January 5, 2012 The annual event is a sensory overload, stacked with all-star lineups and wall-to-wall performances.

Norah Jones kicks off KPLU's list of great vocal performances in 2011.

December 23, 2011 These tunes each exemplify how great singers and great songs fit together.

Detail from cover of Geri Allen, A Child Is Born.

December 21, 2011 Hear five wholly-endorsed tracks from a few of the standout Christmas jazz records of this year.

Artwork from the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra's 1970 album Consummation.

December 6, 2011 In the age of rock, big bands offered musical power from non-electric sources. Hear five examples.

Willie "The Lion" Smith in his New York City apartment in 1947, smoking a signature stogie.

November 23, 2011 The life of Willie "The Lion" Smith was the stuff of legend, but his music backs up his boasts.

Jazzanova.

November 15, 2011 Sampled saxophones and cymbals have re-emerged in dance halls, in innovative forms of house music.

A real skeletal jazz band.

October 27, 2011 Dig the grave, gone sounds of some wickedly good music, including a brass-filled "Thriller."

Norman Granz at his office in July 1987.

October 20, 2011 Granz put artists like Ella Fitzgerald into concert halls while striking a blow for civil rights.

Spanish flamenco guitarist Tomatito joined Dominican pianist Michel Camilo on the Latin Grammy Award-winning Spain.

October 13, 2011 When these cross-continental art forms meet, the result is beautifully rhythmic and dramatic.

Illinois Jacquet.

October 6, 2011 These saxophonists have a robust, sometimes raw sound that mixes swing, bebop, blues and soul.

In 1926, everyone did the Charleston on ice.

September 27, 2011 The banning of alcohol and the subsequent rise of speakeasies played a role in jazz's evolution.

Stanley Clarke performs on stage during the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival in 2007.

September 6, 2011 From '70s fusion on down, hear five electric bassists who turned the spotlight on the low end.

Artwork for Bill Potts' 1959 album, The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess.

September 1, 2011 The controversial Gershwin opera has long been an inspiration to jazz musicians. Hear five songs.

Sheet music for W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues."

August 10, 2011 Hear five versions of the popular W.C. Handy song, performed by five of America's top jazz artists.

Stevie Ray Vaughan synthesized many influences, from Albert King to T-Bone Walker, to get his unique guitar style.

August 3, 2011 Vaughan synthesized many influences, from Albert King to T-Bone Walker, to get his unique style.

The Saxophone Colossus (that's Sonny Rollins at left) played on The Rolling Stones' "Waiting on a Friend."

July 27, 2011 Did you know that Sonny Rollins played on a Rolling Stones song? Hear that and other jazz cameos.

In the 1950s, Astor Piazzolla became a pariah back home for his unconventional, complex tangos.

July 22, 2011 Hear five tango destroyers, each descended from the jazz innovations of Astor Piazzolla.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Michel Camilo is one of the most energetic pianists in jazz.

July 12, 2011 Let your mind sail through the Caribbean by listening to jazz artists who were born on the islands.

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