Jazz : NPR

Meet The Mysteriously Chill (And Weird) Natural Yogurt Band

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Meet The Mysteriously Chill (And Weird) Natural Yogurt Band

May 24, 2018 • Two English musicians, with a strange backstory, mine "library music" to create a fuzzy, endlessly vibing sound.

Nellie McKay's Smoldering Voice Takes On Standards Like 'My Romance'

Nellie McKay's Sister Orchid is out now on Palmetto. Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist

Nellie McKay's Smoldering Voice Takes On Standards Like 'My Romance'

May 19, 2018 • Nellie McKay sings melancholy standards about love on her new album: Sister Orchid. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with McKay about her music that she performs alone.

Nellie McKay's Smoldering Voice Takes On Standards Like 'My Romance'

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American jazz trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison performs in 1991. David Redfern/Getty Images hide caption

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Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Harry 'Sweets' Edison On Piano Jazz

May 18, 2018 • On this episode of Piano Jazz from 1999, broadcast just months before Edison died, the legendary jazz trumpeter joins Marian McPartland for a few classics and an original.

Harry 'Sweets' Edison On Piano Jazz

58:54

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Joshua Redman, 'Still Dreaming,' Pays Emotional Tribute To His Father

Joshua Redman's Still Dreaming (feat. Ron Miles, Scott Colley & Brian Blade) comes out May 25. Jon Brown/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jon Brown/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Joshua Redman, 'Still Dreaming,' Pays Emotional Tribute To His Father

WBGO

May 17, 2018 • The revered saxophonist leads an agile post-bop group with Ron Miles on cornet, Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums.

Kamaal Williams' 'The Return' Is An Elastic And Funky Debut

Kamaal Williams' The Return comes out May 25. Salem Wazaki/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Salem Wazaki/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Kamaal Williams' 'The Return' Is An Elastic And Funky Debut

May 17, 2018 • Williams is a central figure in London's jazz renaissance. Stream the producer's debut full-length in its entirety.

Spelman College Quietly Eliminates One Of The Country's Few Jazz Programs For Women

Graduates of Spelman College during commencement ceremonies on May 19, 2002. Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images hide caption

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Spelman College Quietly Eliminates One Of The Country's Few Jazz Programs For Women

May 15, 2018 • The selective, historically black women's college in Atlanta has cut the college's once-esteemed jazz program, a rarity within the traditionally male-dominated genre.

George Kopp/Courtesy of the artist

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Virginia Mayhew On Piano Jazz

May 11, 2018 • Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Virginia Mayhew joins forces with Marian McPartland to perform "All the Things You Are" and "Body and Soul" on this 1998 episode of Piano Jazz.

Virginia Mayhew On Piano Jazz

56:34

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The Bad Plus Colin Marshall/NPR hide caption

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Colin Marshall/NPR

Jazz Night In America: Video Episodes And Shorts

The Bad Plus: The Band That Never Stops

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

May 10, 2018 • For a group that has always stood for musical collectivism, the substitution of pianist Orrin Evans for Ethan Iverson was a shakeup of existential proportions.

The Bad Plus: The Band That Never Stops

56:17

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Van Morrison And Joey DeFrancesco Make A Lethal Addition To An Old Canon

It's the wonder of encore career wonders: On You're Driving Me Crazy, Van Morrison sounds sharp as ever working with Joey DeFrancesco's hard-swinging group. Richard Wade/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Richard Wade/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music Reviews

Van Morrison And Joey DeFrancesco Make A Lethal Addition To An Old Canon

May 9, 2018 • It's been 50 years since Morrison released his classic album Astral Weeks. In April he released his 39th studio LP, You're Driving Me Crazy, and it is feisty from start to finish.

Van Morrison And Joey DeFrancesco Make A Lethal Addition To An Old Canon

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40 Years Later: Was 1978 The Greatest Year In Music?

Kate Bush at her family's home in London in 1978. Evening Standard/Getty Images hide caption

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World Cafe

40 Years Later: Was 1978 The Greatest Year In Music?

XPN

May 7, 2018 • With a list of debut albums from Kate Bush, The Cars, Devo, Dire Straits, The B-52's, The Police, Buzzcocks, Van Halen and more, '78 has huge ground to stand on.

Jazz Giants Take The Stage At The NEA Jazz Masters Listening Party

Joanne Brackeen and Jason Moran at NPR's Studio One in Washington, D.C. Eric Lee/NPR hide caption

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Eric Lee/NPR

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Jazz Giants Take The Stage At The NEA Jazz Masters Listening Party

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

May 4, 2018 • Jason Moran sat down with the NEA Jazz Masters to talk about their careers and listen to music that played important roles in their lives.

Jazz Giants Take The Stage At The NEA Jazz Masters Listening Party

57:05

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This 1988 episode of Piano Jazz features Brazilian pianist, composer, and vocalist Eliane Elias. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Eliane Elias On Piano Jazz

May 1, 2018 • Brazilian pianist, composer, and vocalist Eliane Elias is a renowned artist in her home country and in the American jazz scene. Hear her first Piano Jazz performance from 1988.

Eliane Elias On Piano Jazz

57:46

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A Map To The Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts

Some of the members of the We Have Voice Collective, the authors of a new code of conduct for preventing harassment in performing arts spaces. Front row, seated (left to right): Linda May Han Oh, Jen Shyu, Sara Serpa. Back row, standing (left to right): Imani Uzuri, María Grand, Terri Lyne Carrington, Fay Victor. Jacob Blickenstaff hide caption

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Jacob Blickenstaff

The Record

A Map To The Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts

WBGO

April 30, 2018 • A collective of 14 female jazz musicians known as We Have Voice have released a code of conduct aimed at reducing harassment in spaces dedicated to the performing arts.

Chick Corea with World Cafe host Talia Schlanger inside a rehearsal room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Dan Muse/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dan Muse/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

Chick Corea On World Cafe

XPN

April 30, 2018 • The revered jazz pianist shares stories about working with Miles Davis and watching Thelonious Monk perform while we try to wrap our heads around the breakneck pace of his creative life.

Chick Corea On World Cafe

35:37

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Bob Dorough, Jazz Musician Best Known For 'Schoolhouse Rock!,' Dead At 94

Bob Dorough performing at Joe's Pub in New York on March 9, 2014. Kevin Yatarola/Getty Images hide caption

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Kevin Yatarola/Getty Images

The Record

Bob Dorough, Jazz Musician Best Known For 'Schoolhouse Rock!,' Dead At 94

April 24, 2018 • Dorough spent two decades as a jazz player, singer, conductor and arranger in New York before being approached, at his advertising day job, to explain math to children via music.

Logan Richardson performs a Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2018 (Eslah Attar/NPR). Eslah Attar/NPR hide caption

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Eslah Attar/NPR

Tiny Desk

Logan Richardson: Tiny Desk Concert

April 23, 2018 • Hear a triumphant fusion of jazz, rock and blues that moves with momentum and fresh anticipation. Logan Richardson plays with a lyrical intensity that is both focused and free.

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Willie Pickens On Piano Jazz

April 20, 2018 • Chicago jazz mainstay Willie Pickens died this past December at age 86. Revisit his performance with McPartland in this 1997 episode of Piano Jazz.

Willie Pickens On Piano Jazz

58:55

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As Cuba Changes, Orquesta Akokán Revives The Golden Age Of Mambo

The members of Orquesta Akokán hail from both Cuba and the U.S., assembled by vocalist and composer José "Pepito" Gómez. They recorded their debut album live to tape in just three days. Adrien H. Tillmann/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Adrien H. Tillmann/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

As Cuba Changes, Orquesta Akokán Revives The Golden Age Of Mambo

April 15, 2018 • Producer Jacob Plasse and vocalist José "Pepito" Gómez share how they recorded the band's debut in Havana's legendary Areito Studios and what their team-up symbolizes for Cuban-American relations.

As Cuba Changes, Orquesta Akokán Revives The Golden Age Of Mambo

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Cleo Brown on the cover of Here Comes Cleo. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Cleo Brown On Piano Jazz

April 13, 2018 • Cleo Brown makes a rare appearance to perform her greatest hit, "Pinetop's Boogie-Woogie," and to recall the style's heyday in the 1930s.

Cleo Brown On Piano Jazz

58:55

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The 2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert

NEA

Music

The 2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

April 11, 2018 • Dianne Reeves, Pat Metheny, Joanne Brackeen and Todd Barkan are recipients of the 2018 Jazz Masters award — the highest honor the U.S. gives to a jazz musician or advocate.

Gus Bennett, Jr./Courtesy of the artist

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Nicholas Payton On Piano Jazz

April 6, 2018 • The trumpet prodigy learned how to improv from fellow New Orleans native Wynton Marsalis. Payton was only in his 20s when he visited with McPartland for this 1998 episode.

Nicholas Payton On Piano Jazz

57:56

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Jazz, Freed: On Cecil Taylor's Expansive Brilliance

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Stuart Nicholson/Redferns

The Record

Jazz, Freed: On Cecil Taylor's Expansive Brilliance

April 6, 2018 • Over a career that sprawled across six full decades, Taylor maintained an unwavering standard of expedition. And what he discovered — in an endless, boundless process — was a world unto himself.