Live at the Village Vanguard

Hart has lived through multiple sea changes in jazz; what makes him exciting to watch is that he's also clearly absorbed them all. Here, the career sideman steps into the leader's chair, presiding over a fearsome unit nearly half his age.

The first album recorded live at the Vanguard, and still one of the best, was made by Sonny Rollins' piano-less trio in 1956. Noisy but soothing, simple but dense, tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen's trio is primed to confront jazz history's shadow on its home turf.

A prolific, sophisticated and conceptually ambitious musician, the pianist spent more than two months of 2008 comatose in the hospital. Thankfully, he says he's made a full recovery. He proved it with his trio live on stage.

Many recognize the tenor saxophonist as one of the most distinctly original voices of his generation; one who possesses the rare ability to distill abstruse modern ideas into gorgeous, palpably warm music. He leads his newest band in a live concert broadcast.

He's a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame producer, songwriter, pianist, singer and New Orleans native. And now he's made one of the best jazz albums of 2009. Toussaint brings a diverse cast of genre-bending all-stars to the Vanguard.

A veteran known for his lyrical compositions and full, round tone, Harrell is one of the jazz world's most respected mainstream trumpeters. He leads his quintet back downtown to perform his gently probing, yet always accessible music.

The tenor saxophonist possesses an exemplary cross-cultural resume. What comes out of his horn these days is a new, all-encompassing strain of Latin jazz, akin to the post-bop of his peers. Hear Sanchez perform with his new quartet.

The Venezuelan pianist and composer has developed a distinctively modern, studied form of Latin jazz. He presents his quartet in concert, featuring the return of critically lauded tenor saxophonist Mark Turner from a scary hand injury.

The New Orleans trumpeter is known as a film composer for Spike Lee, and as a standard-bearer of modern jazz innovation. Fresh off a nationally televised performance at the Grammy Awards, he brings his quintet into lower Manhattan.

A guitarist whose harmonic ideas and sinuous, legato approach make him readily identifiable, Rosenwinkel is arguably the most beloved jazz guitarist of his generation. He returns to New York and the Vanguard stage leading his quartet.

It's been nearly 50 years since the savvy hard-bop veteran first played the Vanguard. With a new album and a two-week engagement lined up, Walton shows no signs of stopping. He brings his trio into the club for a live concert broadcast.

He's descended from jazz royalty, and he wears it with pride. But the saxophonist has engineered his own modern and thoroughly personal approach to improvisation. Hear Ravi Coltrane's working quartet perform live at the Vanguard.

The violinist, composer and occasional country singer has long been developing a rich, earthy take on American music, filtered through adventurous jazz sensibilities. Scheinman's quartet reveals another facet of her sound at this performance, live from the Vanguard.

Reedwoman Anat Cohen totes a clarinet and two saxophones, and plays them in modern jazz, traditional revues and every Afro-Latin hybrid imaginable. She'll do all that and more when she visits New York's most famous basement venue for a live broadcast.

One of today's most popular mainstream pianists, Charlap delights in selecting the most attractive standards of yesteryear and rendering them with tactful, warmly familiar gestures. He brings his celebrated trio back to a favorite downtown haunt.

Widely considered one of his generation's premier saxophonists, Potter plugs in with his quartet of backbeat-blasting electronic wizards. Hear the band's slippery grooves and tactful textures in a live set from New York.

Paul Motian, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano are all towering figures of modern jazz. They also happen to have played together for more than a quarter-century. They convene once again at the club where they sell out weeklong engagements every year.

A pianist who bridges multiple generations of jazz musicians, Barron has long been known as one of New York's most talented and tasteful keyboard players. He brings a quartet of young instrumentalists to the Greenwich Village outpost.

A progressive musical polymath famed for his abundant improvisational skills and mutated reinventions of classical repertoire, the pianist and composer kick-starts his acoustic jazz trio. Hear the band perform live from New York.

Widely recognized as one of the finest drummers in modern jazz — or in all of popular music, for that matter — Blade leads his celebrated Fellowship Band, fresh off their first new recording in eight years. Hear the band on the famed underground stage.

Celebrated by his peers, the Argentinean composer and pianist developed a highly original songbook rife with dazzling rhythms and rich melodies before leaving the U.S. in 2000. He returns to New York to reunite his acclaimed big band, Los Guachos.

The master drummer, a longtime anchor of Miles Davis' electric experiments, brings his versatile timekeeping and a hard-swinging group to the legendary basement venue. Hear a live performance from New York City.

Having long plied his angular brand of post-bop in New York, the jazz guitarist gathered a handful of the city's best musicians for his debut as a leader at the storied West Village enclave. Hear the live concert performance.